Farmers in southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have so far sold around 2.41 million bales(1 bale=170 kg)of cotton to the Cotton Corporation of India(CCI),National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited(Nafed)and private traders,Commissioner and Director of Agricultural Marketing,G Venkatram Reddy said.
During a press meet,Mr.Reddy said the state expected to reap around 8 million bales of cotton from total cultivated area of 2.26 million hectares this year.
CCI has established 95 procurement centres in different districts of the state,including 19 centres in Adilabad,12 each in Warangal,Karimnagar and Nalgonda,9 in Khammam,10 in Guntur,5 in Medak and Krishna,3 in Rangareddy,4 in Prakasam,2 in Kurnool and 1 each in Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad districts.
Having purchased around 1.42 million bales so far,CCI would be procuring a major part of the state's produce at minimum support price.The price that CCI paid for procuring cotton so far this season varied in the range of Rs.3,744 to Rs.3,900 per quintal.
Nafed's procurement through its 14 centres so far amounts to 150,000 bales.
Meanwhile,private traders bought around 837,000 bales of cotton for prices varying between Rs.3,350 to Rs.3,900 per quintal.
According to Mr.Reddy,reduced demand from China has resulted in a fall in Indian cotton prices this year.India's overall cotton exports are likely to plummet to less than 7 million bales this year from last year's high of more than 12 million bales,he added.
