Punjab Cotton Crisis: 60% of Crop Sold Below MSP as Farmers Face Losses
For many cotton growers, the outcome has been distressing.
Punjab Cotton Crisis: 60% of Crop Sold Below MSP as Farmers Face Losses
Punjab’s cotton growers are once again facing a cotton crisis. According to Mandi Data, in the current 2025 cotton season, about 61% of the cotton arriving at state mandis was sold below the Minimum Support Price (MSP).
It is in spite of a fixed MSP being at INR 8,010 per quintal for the staple cotton variety commonly grown in Punjab. In many cases, cotton fetched as little as INR 3,000 per quintal—a crushing blow for farmers who were hopeful for fair returns.
This year’s arrival numbers create worry. Only 2.3 lakh quintals of cotton reached the mandis, compared with 5.4 lakh quintals last year; a sharp decline shows that many farmers may have stopped cotton cultivation altogether.
A main reason for the crisis is the state procurement agency, Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), purchased only a small fraction – about 35,348 quintals out of the mandi arrivals. The vast majority, nearly 1.95 lakh quintals, went to private traders, who seized the opportunity to purchase at reduced prices.
This season CCI began a new digital procurement procedure via the so-called “Kapas Kisan” app. Only farmers whose Aadhaar details and land records were verified and whose cotton met moisture and quality criteria became eligible for MSP procurement. Many farmers struggled with registration or failed the crop-quality test, which caused delay or completely blocked their access to MSP sales.
For many cotton growers, the outcome has been distressing. What was meant to be a safety net in the form of MSP has turned into bitter frustration. Farmers who invested time, labour and money into sowing cotton, in the name of past MSP assurances, have received meagre returns or been forced to sell at minimal rates.
The larger implication is that such repeated episodes may push farmers to abandon cotton and shift to crops such as paddy or wheat. That could reshape Punjab’s agrarian landscape with long-term environmental and economic consequences.
For Punjab’s cotton belt, MSP announcements mean little unless procurement agencies step in with prompt decisive action. Until then, “support price” may remain just a number on paper.
Source: Times of India