Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to lift the ban on export of cotton, saying the move would severely affect farmers in the state.
"Maharashtra is one of the largest cotton growing states. Most of the cotton in the state is cultivated under rain-fed conditions. It is grown in the backward region of Vidarbha and Marathwada, where a large number of suicides of farmers due to agrarian distress have been reported," Chavan wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister.
According to him, this year the season opened with much lower prices compared to last year. The farmers in Maharashtra have been demanding a higher Minimum Support Price (MSP) of nearly Rs 6,000 per quintal.
"In the wake of farmers' protests and wide spread violent agitation, the state government has declared a special package of Rs 2,000 crore to assist the cotton growing farmers. The new ban on exports will further bring the prices down. Even if Government agencies enter the market, it will only be at the MSP level," Chavan said.
It is reported that about 33 per cent of cotton in the state is still with farmers. The ban will severely affect them, he added.
After the ban, most of the cotton markets in the state were closed and some incidents of violence were reported, he said.
He warned of violent protests spreading across the state over the issue and said it would provide fodder for the Opposition to sharpen its attack against the government during the budget session of the state Assembly, which will start on March 15.
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