MR Ahmed Patel, Political Secretary to Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, has made a plea to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to lift the ban on cotton exports to give much-needed relief to the country's farmers.
In a letter to the PM, he gave details of his communication with several Union Ministers, including Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Textiles Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran and Commerce Minister, Mr Anand Sharma in this regard.
Mr Patel said lifting the ban on cotton exports would not only protect the interests of farmers in Gujarat, but will also benefit growers from other parts of the country, as cotton prices have nosedived by 30 to 40 per cent in the past two months.
He pointed out that cotton prices had plunged to Rs 42,000 per candy from Rs 63,000, which had come as a shock to traders, millers, ginners and eventually farmers.
Mr Patel highlighted that a third of India's total cotton output came from Gujarat, of which 50 per cent was exported "due to its superior quality".
In 2010-11, Gujarat produced 104.55 lakh bales of cotton, cultivated on 24.64 lakh hectares. "In case the ban is not lifted, it would ruin Gujarat's farmers", Mr Patel stressed, and added that with the onset of the monsoon farmers were left with no option but to sell their crops at low prices, given that they did not have a storage mechanism.
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