G. Gurumurthy

Coimbatore , June 7

COTTON Corporation of India (CCI) will commence its minimum support price (MSP) operation in Tamil Nadu by June 15. The MSP operation by the corporation has followed complaints of falling prices of summer cotton whose first picking is to gain momentum this month.

Official sources told Business Line that to start with, the corporation would open two purchase centres at Rajapalayam and Paramakudi in South Tamil Nadu where the summer cotton crop has already arrived and farmers are concerned over the sharp drop in the price of kapas (seeded cotton). The sources said that in addition to these two, it CCI is also likely to open one more purchase centre in the Thanjavur delta area. The regulated cotton markets in the delta area are scheduled to start auctioning cotton brought to the market yards by farmers for this season from June 10.

The corporation, which has intervened in the markets of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, is set to purchase cotton in Tamil Nadu after a gap of about two decades.

The MSP, as announced by the Government for the 2004-05 cotton season, has set the price band at Rs 1,640-Rs 2,035 per quintal for various varieties and the price is subject to the cotton conforming to quality parameters. The Tamil Nadu State Agriculture Department, which has been focusing on integrated cultivation to boost the State's output, has also involved the corporation as part of its market-making mechanism for the cotton produced.

The corporation also figures as a supporting agency in the contract cotton farming scheme launched by the department. According to market sources, the market intervention in the State may have to face initial hiccups in drawing the cotton farmers to the purchase centres in places where local cotton traders have a long-term bond with farmers in procuring the latter's produce.

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