Viramgam: Lakhubhai Mori of Kaliyana village is a worried man. Half his cotton crop has been harvested, the other half is standing. But cotton prices have crashed after the Central Government's decision to ban cotton exports. In 2011, 20 kilos of cotton earned Lakhubhai Rs 1100. Today, he will get just Rs 500.
Lakhubhai says, "The cost of labour and fertilisers are increasing every year, but the returns are going down. With the ban on exports, we are not getting our prices and don't know what to do."
With no certainty about the prices of their cotton produce, many farmers are storing up cotton and waiting for prices to shoot up again. Others are left wondering if they should grow other crops.
Hareshbhai, another farmer, says, "If this goes on for another two years, cotton farming will come down to zero. We can grow a lot of crops in greenhouses in lesser space and earn more."
Farmer Rambhai Jethabhai says, "We don't want to grow cotton anymore. Costs are going high by the day and prices are falling by half."
At 110 million bales of cotton a year, Gujarat produces one-third or 33 per cent of India's cotton. But it accounts for a massive 55 per cent of the country's cotton export. Experts question the logic behind the export ban, especially towards the end of the cotton season.
Says commodities expert Bitren Vakil, "This decision has made farmers jittery, ginning mills have deferred their buying and as it is, the prevailing prices are about 60 per cent lower than last year."
For a change, both the BJP and the Congress' Gujarat unit have demanded that Delhi lift the ban on cotton exports immediately.
Jaynarayan Vyas, Gujarat government spokesperson, says, "The ban on exports is an anti-farmer policy and the Gujarat government has asked for this decision to be reversed immediately."
The government may review the export ban, but farmers like Lakhubhai are preparing for hard times.
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