Cotton farmers from Telangana may get central price support

The Centre is likely to launch a pilot of the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana - a price support scheme that compensates farmers for the difference when the prevailing market price falls below the minimum support price (MSP) - for cotton farmers from Telangana's Adilabad next month.

A meeting of the committee instituted for this purpose, headed by agricultural economist and Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand and comprising representatives of the industry, growers and state governments, took place last week, multiple people who attended the meeting told ET.

As most of the farmers have sold their cotton crop harvested from October onward, the scheme would be implemented on a pilot basis after deliberations with the officials of the Telangana government, they said.


The reason for selecting Adilabad is the better availability of online records of farmers, which would be necessary for implementation of the scheme, the sources said. "We may face many difficulties while implementing the scheme for cotton, which need to be studied thoroughly," said Ganesh Nanote, a Maharashtrian cotton farmer.

The government had promised to implement the Bhavantar scheme for cotton and soyabean farmers of India before the assembly elections in Maharashtra last month as prices of both the crops have been ruling below the MSP throughout the kharif season.