Rohan Adewar
Assistant District Representative
Yavatmal/Wardha..
It is noticed that the Maharashtra government is consciously ignoring their price issues while cotton farmers are worried due to lack of proper price.
During the tenure of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s government, the price of cotton has fallen to such an extent that the cost has not even been recovered.
However, is the Maharashtra government going to suppress the issues of the cotton farmers without paying the right price for the cotton? This is the question of the cotton farmers to the Maharashtra government.
Cotton is a major crop grown in Vidarbha. Among them, Yavatmal district is known far and wide for its white gold. This year’s rains broke the back of cotton growers.
Somehow the crop area has been increased. However, the income is not as much as it should be. The farmers are worried because they are not getting the market price.
Farmers work day and night to cultivate crops in agriculture. This year, many farmers have taken cotton production and the farmers expected to get more profit from it. However, due to the non-increasing price of cotton, now a new crisis has arisen in front of the farmers and anger has arisen among the farmers against the government.
As the people’s representatives are also silent on this, the demands of the farmers are still in the dark.
In the recent past, suicides of farmers are seen in Yavatmal district. Due to heavy rains, there has been a big decrease in the production of cotton this year. There has been a huge increase in agricultural inputs, fertilizers, seeds and wages in agriculture.
But, why is the price of agricultural products not increasing to that extent? This is worrying the farmer. Farmers’ cotton is lying at home due to lack of price increase. There is a mountain of debt on their heads.
But farmers here are expressing regret that they have to sell cotton at a low price to meet the expenses. The cotton crop has not increased as much as it should. The prices are still the same as they were ten years ago. However, the prices of other items which were 10 years ago have increased tremendously.
Now cotton has to be sold at Rs 6400 to Rs 6800 per quintal. When the prices of agricultural commodities increase, everyone’s attention is on that price increase. There is a cry that the prices of agricultural products have increased, but on the other hand, when the prices of agricultural products fall, no one pays attention to it and then there is no fuss about it.
As the cost of cotton crop is lower than the cost of cotton cultivation, the question of how to earn a living is facing the cotton growers.
