The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is also unresponsive to their needs, claims the YSR Congress.
The YSR Congress has demanded that the state government give cotton farmers adequate prices "since they are in distress and are being exploited by traders, with the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) being unresponsive to their needs".
"Cotton production has increased in the state, but productivity has come down, as the input costs have increased drastically. At times, it is more than the cost of yield," YSRCP Farmers Cell Convenor M V S Nagi Reddy told reporters on Wednesday.
"CCI, which was formed to keep a check on middlemen, has been siding with them and ignoring the interests of farmers," he said, adding that traders are buying cheap from farmers and selling to CCI at the government's price.
He said, "The CCI has been discouraging farmers on one ground or the other, and farmers are forced to sell their produce to middlemen. In the recent past, there have been dharnas at many market yards."
"We demand that the government come to the rescue of farmers, as the cost of production has increased drastically during the past three years, and the situation is driving the farmers into a financial crisis," he said.
"In the present situation, the cost of production has increased to Rs. 5,000 per quintal, while the MSP is Rs. 3,900. Farmers are resorting to distress sales, and traders are buying for Rs. 3,000 or less. Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's demand for a Rs. 3,000 crore market stabilisation fund will help the farmers come out of their situation," he said.
"Three-fourths of the cotton yield comes from the Telangana region, where farmers are driven to debt," he said, adding that the government has decreased the extent of land while allocating input subsidy.
"The crisis arose with the increase in the extent of land under cultivation and the hike in input cost, thus bringing down the productivity. While in Gujarat and other states, cotton crops have fallen, in Andhra Pradesh, it has gone up, but no proper measures are being taken to address the crisis," he said. (INN)