The Hindu Business Line : Nafed to procure cotton

THE Government has nominated the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (Nafed) as an agency for price support operations in cotton, in addition to the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI).

The decision to extend Nafed's price support operations to cotton, apart from pulses and oilseeds, "with immediate effect" was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) here on Thursday. "With the involvement of an additional agency, the procurement of cotton is expected to increase, resulting in benefiting the country's cotton farmers," an official release said.

Nafed will accordingly be allowed to undertake cotton procurement on the CCI pattern, for which it will utilise its network of cooperatives and be paid service charges as in the case of oilseeds and pulses. The CCEA approved to reimburse fully the losses incurred, if any, by Nafed from disposal of cotton procured under price support operation, by way of domestic sale or exports, the release added.

The decision to appoint Nafed as an additional price support agency comes even as almost 80 per cent of this year's cotton produce has already arrived in the markets. According to the CCI, out of the estimated 213 lakh bales of domestic output for 2004-05, a quantity of 168.22 lakh bales has already arrived in the market. While in the northern region (Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan), 32 lakh bales out of the total production of 39.5 lakh bales have arrived, the corresponding figures are 93 lakh bales and 114 lakh bales for the central (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh) and southern (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka) regions.

The country's cotton production of 213 lakh bales this year is way above the 177 lakh bales of 2003-04.

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