Nagpur: Staring at losses due to the drought, cotton farmers in Vidarbha hope the govt does not extend the duty-free imports regime beyond Oct 31, so that their produce fetches a better price in times of a falling yield. Cotton is expected to reach the market by mid-Oct.Cotton imports have been made duty-free till Oct 31, and the textile lobby is pressing for an extension so that the raw material is available cheaper. The industry claims that higher prices of cotton would lead to mills shutting down. If the duty-free imports are extended, farmers’ worst fears would come true. If import is easier, the domestic rates would come down at a time when the cotton yield has shrunk considerably, farmers and experts told TOI.The majority of the area under cotton in Vidarbha is non-irrigated, depending on rains, with a massive reduction in yield expected. Yavatmal, the cotton bowl of the state, has over 4.5 lakh hectares under the crop. A note on the drought assessment in Yavatmal district says that the cotton plant growth has been stunted and bolls are falling off due to heat stress.As against 40 to 50 bolls in a plant, there are barely four to five in many fields. The plants have not grown beyond a couple of feet due to lack of rain, an official told TOI.“Initially everything appeared fine. I thought that the crop would still be salvaged even in less rain. However, last month’s dry run changed the tide. The cotton plants in my field barely have 10 to 12 bolls each. There is hardly any chance of a second picking leave aside third or fourth, as the bolls in growing stage may soon wither off,” said Shantanu Thakre from Arni Tehsil in Yavatmal.While the crop in India may get affected due to the drought, there are countries which are expecting a bumper yield. If the imports are duty-free, foreign cotton would flood the Indian markets, bringing down domestic rates, said sources in international trade.An official of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) at Washington said the lint (cotton processed after removing seed) production in India is estimated at 431 kg per hectare, which is marginally lower than last year. However, countries like Brazil and Uzbekistan have estimates of 2,200 and 1,700 kg respectively. This means there is enough cotton globally to bring down the rates, the official added.Vijay Jawandhia, a veteran activist, said the global prices according to the Cotlook index are at 89 cents per pound. A week ago, it touched close to a dollar and now the trend is bearish, he added.
