Cotton price doubles, TN farmers elated

MADURAI: Cotton farmers in parts of Ramanathapuram district are happy, as the price of the agricultural product in world market has reached unprecedented heights.

Several farmers, who relied on paddy, cultivated cotton as a second crop on clay soil mostly in rain-fed conditions.

For many, cotton is referred to as ‘white gold’ and much to the delight of farmers, cotton holds the highest value like gold this year, unlike previous years, sources said.

K Thangavel, a farmer of Mumudichathan village of Paramakudi block on Sunday said cotton has more than doubled in price over the past year.

The 64-year old farmer, who grows cotton relying on seven acres, said the average price of cotton is about Rs 50 to Rs 60 a kilo. But, this year, the price rose to Rs 110 a kilo.

During last year, the government fixed Rs 50 for a kilo of cotton as the minimum support price. As for Thangavel, chilli and cotton are major cash crops in the district.

Since chilli cultivation was affected owing to intervention of unseasonal rains, Thangavel said that he preferred cotton crop as an alternative to chilli.

Ultimately, cotton yielded the desired results on field. Cotton yield from an acre on his farm crossed 800 kilos. It incurred expenses on fertilizer, labour and pesticide of about Rs 15,000 per acre.

A 65-year-old farmer from Radhapuli village of Nainarkoil block, A Kannan, said that the market price of cotton is a record for this year and the highest price ever in his experience. An acre yielded about 1.5 tonnes of cotton during the first season in January. However, there are concerns about insect attack and labour shortage in this second season, which began from May. While paddy is the major crop for many, growing paddy is not as profitable as cotton, he said.

According to Ramanathapuram Joint Director of Agriculture Tom P Silas, cotton cultivation has increased substantially. The average cultivation area is about 3,700 hectares to 4,000 ha, but the cultivation rose to 9,375 ha last year. This year, its cultivation is around 11,000 ha and harvest is on for the last few months now.

Owing to international factors such as the Ukraine war, decline in production of cotton in China and Covid crisis, there’s a big boom in the price of cotton. A booming demand for cotton fueled the price hike, which’s unprecedented in the history of Ramnad agriculture, Dr Silas told DT Next.

Cotton is cultivated predominantly in blocks of Mudukulathur, Paramakudi, Nainarkoil, Kadaladi, Kamuthi and Bogalur in varieties of ‘SVPR-2’, ‘SVPR-4’, ‘MCU-5’ and ‘CO-17’. Most of them preferred the medium staple variety as it’s drought tolerant.

To keep pest attack at bay and to increase the yield, the cotton farmers through integrated pest management were advised to sow treated seeds at first and bio-fertilizers, micronutrients and sprayers were given to them under Sustainable Cotton Cultivation Mission and National Food Security Mission. More importantly, the farmers were advised to cultivate cotton as intercrop to avoid pest attack, Dr Silas said.