has allowed the Ganjam district administration to start cotton
procurement from December 15, an official said.
The district administration has asked the regulated
market committee (RMC), Digapahandi to make all arrangements
for the opening of the mandi, the lone cotton procurement
centre in the district.
The administration has also asked officials to create
awareness among the farmers to sale their cotton produce at
the government-run mandi instead of selling cotton to the
private traders from Andhra Pradesh, said district collector
Vijay Amruta Kulange.
Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) will purchase all
cotton of farmers from the mandi and supply it to different
spinning mills across the country after processing.
“Last year, the RMC Digapahandi had procured 4,883
quintals of the cotton in its mandi. This year, we expect
procurement of over 5,000 quintal of cotton from the farmers”,
said secretary, RMC Digapahandi, Arun Mishra.
He said after procurement, the CCI would process the
cotton in the ginning mill, that is being set up by the RMC
Digapahandi. The 50-quintal processing per day ginning mill is
under construction and expected to start functioning from
January 26, he said.
The Collector has also instructed officials to
expedite the work to start the operation of the ginning mill
from January 26 in a recent review meeting held on cotton
procurement. The ginning mill is being set up with an
investment of around Rs 2.20 crore.
District”s cotton specialist PK Swain said in the last
year over 6,900 quintals of cotton was produced in the state,
while the cotton cultivation was undertaken in around 858
hectares of the land.
This time, the farmers are expected to produce over
8,400 quintals of the cotton, even though the cotton areas
reduced to 557 hectares. The rain during the harvest season
had damaged the cotton crops last year, he said, adding that
this time it was expected a high yield due to the favourable
climate.
The cotton is generally grown in five blocks in the
districts, which includes Patrapur, Sanakhemundi, Sorada,
Digapahandi and Sheragad. District collector asked the
agriculture officials to expand the cotton-growing areas in
the district, as it is a cash crop. He also said they have
planned to set up another ginning mill at RMC, Hinjili. PTI
COR AAM
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Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI
