Amravati farmers hold back cotton hoping for post-Diwali rise; soybean prices ease, arrivals fall

The rains failed this year, and the effect has been felt heavily on cotton and soybean yields in Amravati division. Rainfall was about 40 per cent below average, which reduced production. Farmers must now also contend with swings in market prices.

Cotton is currently fetching more than the guaranteed price. The Centre has announced a guaranteed price of Rs 8,600 per quintal for cotton, while the market rate is now Rs 9,000 to Rs 9,100 per quintal. At the start of the season, cotton had sold for as much as Rs 9,500. For this reason, farmers expect the market to firm up further after Diwali.

In that hope, many farmers have not hurried to sell cotton and have kept it at home. As a result, arrivals of cotton in the market have fallen. According to Deepak Mantri, a local cotton trader, cotton prices are likely to rise after Diwali, so farmers are not very keen to sell at present.

On the other hand, the price of sarki (cotton seed), which was initially Rs 5,000 per quintal, has fallen by about Rs 500 over the last few days. This decline is also affecting the market price of cotton. Farmers are therefore watching which way cotton prices move in the coming days.

While cotton is expected to rise, the soybean market is uncertain. At the Amravati Agricultural Produce Market Committee, soybean prices moved up and down daily in the first week of November. On October 31, soybean fetched Rs 6,800 to Rs 7,100 per quintal. Because of this good price, arrivals in the market that day were 5,386 quintals.

Prices then began to fall. On November 2, soybean was at Rs 6,650 to Rs 7,031. On November 3, prices were recorded at Rs 6,700 to Rs 6,953. On Wednesday it was Rs 6,650 to Rs 6,850. On Thursday the price improved slightly to Rs 6,650 to Rs 6,950, but arrivals that day fell to just 2,547 quintals.

Because of this uncertainty in prices, farmers are being cautious about bringing produce to the market. They fear that if they do not get the expected price, they will not even recover their transport costs. Many farmers have therefore also limited their soybean sales while waiting for a good price.

Cotton growers are holding their produce at home in the hope of higher prices, while soybean growers are unsure about selling because of the market decline. All farmers are watching how cotton and soybean prices change after Diwali.