Estimated total cotton production of India is over 40 million bales in the 2014-15 crop year
Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar has expressed concern over the decline in the cotton prices and urged the Cotton Corporation of India to examine the pricing of the cotton products and implement the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ initiative of providing online payment facility to farmers' bank account, as reported by PTI.
The report further stated that at present, the price of cotton is below minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 4,050 per quintal in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other states and Cotton Corporation of India are now buying the cotton at the MSP in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The minister has asked CCI to expand the geographical presence of the centres and emphasized that cotton exports need to be increased in order to accelerate the pace of cotton arrival and promote the exports.
PTI report said, “CCI has so far procured more than 60,000 bales in AP and Telangana at the MSP rate, while it has not yet began procurement operations in other states like Maharashtra even as prices are ruling below the support price.”
The Cotton Advisory Board has estimated total cotton production of India at over 40 million bales in the 2014-15 crop year as compared to 39.8 million bales in 2013-14.
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