CCI is running 83 procurement centres whereas, state’s federation department is running 80 centres.

Maharashtra State Co-op Cotton Growers Marketing Federation (MSCCGMF) has said that around 10 lakh quintal of FAQ quality cotton remains with farmers in the state and that procurement could be completed by the month-end, subject to the condition of monsoons in the state.

The federation has purchased around 76 lakh quintal of cotton while CCI has procured around 110 lakh quintal till date. Anantrao Deshmukh, chairman, MSCCGMF, said it was not possible for the federation to procure cotton as directed by the High Court (HC) by June 12 and accordingly the federation had submitted an affidavit in the court. The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday had asked all cotton farmers from Maharashtra to put forth their grievances regarding the lapses on part of the Maharashtra government and other relevant authorities including the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC).

The government of Maharashtra has also directed the federation to complete cotton purchase before the onset of monsoons. MSCCGMF is the sub-agency of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) in Maharashtra and undertakes cotton procurement operations at Minimum Support Price (MSP) from farmers. CCI is running 83 procurement centres whereas, state’s federation department is running 80 centres.

“Normally farmers wait for better prices in the latter part of the season and hold onto cotton. This season, arrivals were lean in December, January and February. Farmers began taking out the cotton in March but then the lockdown began from March 23 and there were no purchase operations for a month until April end,” he explained. The procurement that happened after April began in a limited way with limited number of tractors that were allowed in the market yards with social distancing norms and therefore procurement was affected, Deshmukh said.

Alongside ginning units were also not functioning and procurement is of no use unless the cotton is processed at the ginning units, he said. Temperatures in April were 46 degrees to 47 degrees in Vidarbha causing concerns about fire, he said. Now with the rains, the cotton quality has deteriorated due to moisture which causes discoloration of the threads and makes ginning difficult, he added.

Earlier ginning units were spread on 10-12 acres which made storage easy and now with compact ginning machines, the unit sizes have reduced to 2-2.5 acres and therefore the federation has been forced to purchase cotton that can be processed and not make higher amount of purchases, Deshmukh said. With the monsoon set to begin anytime, storage is still an issue, he explained. Therefore, the federation has decided to purchase cotton only in centres where ginning units are operational and have proper storage capacity, he said.

The federation has around 60 cotton graders and had put in a request with the state government for hiring more graders in September 2019. However, the government has responded now by sending 90 temporary officers on deputation some three weeks ago who also had to be trained quickly, according to the federation sources.

Earlier one grader looked after 3 ginning units but now 2 graders are looking after one unit and some 176 ginning units across the state are operational, he said. The attempt is to finish work quickly and ensure that cotton is procured before the onset of monsoon but this could easily take time as long as the month-end, he said.