RAJKOT, MARCH 20: Cotton-growing farmers of Saurashtra are in deep financial trouble with there being no takers for their produce which has been of inferior quality this year due to poor rains. As per estimates, they are, at present, holding on to 30 lakh gasadi (bales) of cotton following their failure to get even the minimum support price set by the government.Maganbhai Trambadia, a major cultivator from the cotton bowl of Saurashtra, Manavadar, says the farmers have borrowed money from the co-operative sector and also from private businessmen and hence, the debt trap.Another reason for their plight is the decision of the government to allow import of cotton. President of the Rajkot city and district Consumer Protection Forum Ramji Mavani says the government approved import of cotton from neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh when the regional cotton product was not yet ready. There being no import duty, customers brought imported cotton which was of better quality and less expensive than the local produce. The government, on its part, has set support price of Rs 1,650 for `Shankar 4' type of cotton and Rs 1,300 for `kala' cotton.However, a senior officer of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) pointed out that the support price had been fixed for a particular quality of cotton product. If the cotton produced by farmers was found to the sub-standard, then it was not the duty of the CCI to buy that product at the support price.Secretary of the Consumer Protection Forum Manoj Patel feels that it is the duty of the government to step in whenever the price of cotton goes below the support price and the farmers are on the verge of bankruptcy. At present, the government has opened very few outlets to buy cotton, he added.
