Warangal: The purchasing of cotton, which had been halted until the afternoon due to a strike called by the Telangana State Cotton and Ginning Mills Association, started at a brisk pace at Asia’s biggest agriculture market, Enumamula in Hanamkonda, on Monday.
As many as 1,600 quintals of cotton arrived at the market in the morning after two days of holidays. Many farmers, who were unaware of the strike, were shocked when they learned about it. They were worried after discovering the strike called by the association members. The Cotton and Ginning Mills Association had called for a strike on Sunday in opposition to the L1, L2, and L3 rules imposed by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and decided to stop purchasing cotton until their issues were resolved.
The CCI decided to purchase cotton from merchants by dividing them into three categories: L1, L2, and L3, based on the quotations they submitted. It also decided to purchase cotton first from the merchants who quoted lower amounts, placing them under the L1 category, followed by L2 and L3. Unaware of the rules imposed by CCI, several merchants submitted their quotations based on the quality of the cotton bales they procured from farmers in the price range of Rs 1,495 to Rs 1,550.
Because of this, merchants who quoted higher prices were included under the L2 and L3 categories and lost the opportunity to sell the cotton they procured from farmers after completing the ginning (removal of seeds) process. Opposing the rules, they called for a strike.
Meanwhile, agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao held talks with the chief managing director of CCI, Lalith Kumar Gupta, and members of the Cotton and Ginning Mills Association to resolve their issues. With the resumption of cotton purchasing, cotton farmers expressed happiness and sold their produce. Good quality cotton was sold at ₹6,960 per quintal, and other cotton fetched Rs 6,000 per quintal in the cotton market.
