The state government has finally decided to compensate cotton growing farmers on the basis of their land holding rather than on the crop sold.
The state government has finally decided to compensate cotton growing farmers on the basis of their land holding rather than on the crop sold.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said it was not possible to compensate farmers on a per quintal basis — a demand by a few Opposition parties — because many farmers had already sold their cotton.
However, Chavan said the state government had not yet decided on the exact amount it would pay to the farmers or the details on how the payment would be made.
“The decision will only be announced during the Nagpur assembly session since the electoral code of conduct is in force at present (due to the impending local elections across the state),” he said.
Earlier in the day, the CM held an all-party meeting to decide on helping the cotton growers across the state, but no decision was taken.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said it will launch a statewide agitation and disrupt the Nagpur legislative sessions unless the government substantially hiked the prices.
Cotton farmers have been demanding a higher minimum support price (MSP) than the Rs3,300 per quintal announced by the state, saying they had suffered losses due to unseasonal rains and the high input costs.
The BJP has demanded an MSP of Rs6,000 per quintal.
A Nagpur-based political analyst said the state government is likely to announce a compensation of between Rs2,000 and Rs3,000 per hectare, with a limit of two hectares per farmer so that the government would not have to spend more than Rs200-300 crore.
“It had applied a similar formula last year,” the political analyst added.
Most cotton growers are in Vidarbha, Marathwada and northern Maharashtra regions, where land holdings tend to be around four to five hectares. But the cash-strapped state government is in no position to spend more than a few hundred crores, unless the Central government bails it out. The Centre has, so far, proven reluctant.
Cotton remains a popular cash crop with farmers in Vidarbha, Marathwada and Khandesh (northern Maharashtra) and was grown on around 42 lakh hectare — up from the 38 lakh hectare of last year. “This was because last year, international prices were high and that induced more farmers to go in for cotton this year,” said the analyst.
In July, it was expected that 400 lakh quintals of cotton would be grown in the Maharashtra, but now the figure has been revised to 300 quintals. With less to sell, farmers want a higher price, and with local elections weeks away, the state government is working overtime to resolve the matter.
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