The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : State set for record cotton production

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 21, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

State set for record cotton production

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, DEC. 20. In spite of deficit rainfall, all the major crops, including paddy, are set to register record yields in the State this year.

Paddy procurement has already touched 3.15-lakh tonnes against an expected production of 42-lakh tonnes during the kharif, the Agriculture Minister, N. Raghuveera Reddy, told a news conference here on Sunday.

He said the State was also set for a record cotton production of 30-lakh bales, weighing six-lakh tonnes, this year as against 24-lakh bales last year.

The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has lifted 17.5-lakh quintals, valued at Rs. 342 crores so far from the 54 centres it has opened in the State. The CCI has been asked to bear the transportation cost of Rs. 60 to 70 per quintal instead of burdening farmers, the Minister said.

Ensuring MSP

Mr. Reddy said the output of principal crops, including paddy, had been higher this season despite deficit rainfall. On its part, the Government had played a proactive role in ensuring the minimum support price (MSP) for all the crops. The MSP of cotton was Rs. 2,010 a quintal as against Rs. 1,750 last year. The market price of cotton, however, was only Rs. 1,920 a quintal on Saturday against an average of Rs. 2,500 last year.

The Minister said maize recorded a production of 12-lakh tonnes but the arrivals in market yards were only 2.8-lakh tonnes. The MSP went up from Rs. 505 a quintal last year to Rs. 525 this year. MARKFED and Civil Supplies Corporation had together procured 1.72-lakh tonnes worth Rs. 112.57 crores.

MARKFED tie-up

For the first time, MARKFED had tied-up with the poultry industry and procured for it 43,000 tonnes of maize with a marginal profit.

Referring to the problems being faced by groundnut farmers, Mr. Reddy said the Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, urged the Centre to increase the MSP of groundnut from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 2,000 a quintal. He had also sought enhancement of the import duty on edible oils and cotton to rescue groundnut farmers.

Groundnut production this year was expected to be 14.09-lakh tonnes against 11.61-lakh tonnes last year but the MSP was far less, leading to distress sale by farmers.

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