Govt taking steps to avoid cotton distress sale by farmers: Irani

The government has taken various measures to avoid distress sale of cotton by farmers to safeguarding the interests of cotton farmers, Parliament was informed on Friday. Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said 610 procurement points, including 367 procurement centers covering 125 districts in 12 cotton-growing states, have been opened in all the cotton-growing states under 18 procurement & sales branches of Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Ltd.

The cotton season starts in October and ends in September. "As on 18 November 2019, CCI has procured around 4 lakh quintals kapas from the farmers mainly in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Telangana and at some centers in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka," Irani said.