Interviews
Cotton farmers upset with yield returns
07 May '10
2 min read
There is an atmosphere of dis-satisfaction among the country's cotton farmers due to lower returns from their crop, which has forced them to ponder moving over to the more lucrative crop, tobacco.
Cotton farmers are just paid US 30 cents for a kg of cotton, which is not viable to offset the high production costs. Farmers require US $300 to 400 to produce cotton that can amount up to 800 to 1,200 kg per hectare.
Abandonment of cotton crop by the farmers would take its toll on the textile industry that immensely depends on this crop. It will also affect the other sectors that are indirectly connected to the textile sector.
During 2009-10 farming season, the farmers had not received input support from the contractors as most of the contractors were not sure about recovering their money and were scared to go ahead with side-marketing.
During this season, most of the farmers generated finance for the crop from their own sources. Due to this, only a total of 261,191 hectares of cotton was planted in 2009-10 season, around 23 percent less than 337,671 hectares of cotton planted last year.
The farmers who grow cotton under contract complained that the inputs, such as seed, fertilizers and chemicals, which they receive from the contractors, are often inadequate and are usually delivered late, though the farmers require adequate fertilizers and chemicals to get a meaningful yield.
As the cotton crop has the potential to bring in considerable amount of foreign currency, it is largely termed as the white gold.
Cotton farmers are just paid US 30 cents for a kg of cotton, which is not viable to offset the high production costs. Farmers require US $300 to 400 to produce cotton that can amount up to 800 to 1,200 kg per hectare.
Abandonment of cotton crop by the farmers would take its toll on the textile industry that immensely depends on this crop. It will also affect the other sectors that are indirectly connected to the textile sector.
During 2009-10 farming season, the farmers had not received input support from the contractors as most of the contractors were not sure about recovering their money and were scared to go ahead with side-marketing.
During this season, most of the farmers generated finance for the crop from their own sources. Due to this, only a total of 261,191 hectares of cotton was planted in 2009-10 season, around 23 percent less than 337,671 hectares of cotton planted last year.
The farmers who grow cotton under contract complained that the inputs, such as seed, fertilizers and chemicals, which they receive from the contractors, are often inadequate and are usually delivered late, though the farmers require adequate fertilizers and chemicals to get a meaningful yield.
As the cotton crop has the potential to bring in considerable amount of foreign currency, it is largely termed as the white gold.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk - India
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