Gujarat production may take 10% hit.
Atop cotton heaps:APMC yard workers load cotton onto a lorry at Gondal APMC yard, 35 km from Rajkot, for transport to a ginning mill. —
M. R. Subramani
Rajkot, Dec. 10
A combination of rain and Diwali holidays, resulting in low arrivals, has led to exporters not being able to get the required 55 lakh bales (170 kg each) for shipments before the December 15 deadline.
In October, the Centre had announced permitting 55 lakh bales of cotton exports from November 1 and fixed a deadline of December 15 for the shipments to sent abroad.
“Exports by December 15 may be 25-30 lakh bales only. What has happened is that we could not buy for 12-15 days from the market due to reasons such as rains and Diwali,” said Mr M. P. Patel, Managing Director, Jaideep Cotton Fibres, an exporter.
The markets were closed for at least five days for Diwali. On top of it, farmers waited for an auspicious day after the festival to sell, he said.
“Another 6-7 days were lost due to heavy rain in the region,” he said. There is demand from China, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia, said Mr Anand A Poppat, Managing Director, Jalaram Cotton and Proteins Ltd. Exporters and ginners fear that there could be a loss of 10 per cent in the crop against the initial estimates.
“Some 107 lakh bales were expected to be produced in Gujarat. It could be now 10 per cent lower,” said Mr M.P. Patel.
Lower production
Mr Poppat is of the view that production in Gujarat would be 10 per cent lower than the initial estimates of 130-135 lakh bales.
“There could be damage of 10-15 lakh bales in Gujarat,” said Mr Govindlal G. Patel of Deepak Enterprises. “We think the minimum production in Gujarat will be 90 lakh bales.”
All-India production could be 310-315 lakh bales against initial estimates of 335 lakh bales. However, a section of the traders here thinks that 335 lakh bales is still possible given that an output of 350 lakh bales was projected.
“Rain accompanied by heavy wind has brought down production in my farm to 10 maund (20 kg each) on a bigha (2.5 acres). But for that, the output on my farm could have been 40 maund a bigha,” said Mr Shyamjibhai Raiyani, a pesticide distributor-cum-farmer.
Some farmers at the Dhoraji Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee yard said that their production had halved due to the un-seasonal rain. “The rain has led to boll in the plant falling. And water has seeped into the flowers, affecting the quality of cotton,” said Mr Kalpesh Posiya, a trader at Dhoraji APMC yard.
Black and yellow
There is, therefore, a problem in the cotton that is arriving at various markets in Rajkot district. While some are a little black, the others are a bit yellowish.
“We can set right the black ones while ginning, but the yellow ones are a problem,” said Mr Poppat.
If cotton arrives without any problem or is good in quality, then farmers get a minimum of Rs 900 a maund (20 kg). But any drop in quality sees the prices going down to Rs 850 for cotton with patches of black and around Rs 750 for those with yellow patches.
“If the cotton had been picked up before Diwali, there would have been no problem, or minimum contamination. If the picking was after the festival, then there would have been problems, as we are seeing now,” said Mr Jaisukhbhai Patel, a trader in Gondal APMC yard.
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