Rs 10K per quintal but there’s little cotton to sell

ADILABAD: The cotton price touched Rs 10,000 per quintal on Monday, but farmers have already sold their produce at lower prices since no one expected the commodity to touch the five-figure mark.

News is making rounds in the cotton business circles that the prices will rise more due to the demand in the international market and low yields this season.

Most farmers sold their cotton locally at prices ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 8,500 per quintal. Those who sold cotton in the Maharashtra markets got prices in excess of Rs 10,000. Farmers used the money to clear their debts or sold the commodities to commission agents or middlemen from whom they had borrowed money.

Very few farmers have the facility of stocking their cotton and waiting for good prices.

A farmer, Shyam Rao of Chinchughat, said that Rs 8,000 per quintal was not a low price when compared to previous seasons. He said no farmer had cotton to sell though the price reached Rs 10,000. There were no fresh arrivals in the market.

Sadly, there were no second and third pickings of cotton this season since the plants were inundated by floodwater caused by unseasonal rains.