Fight US subsidies to cotton farmers, says Gujcot advisor Sanat Mehta

India must become a party to the Brazilian government's case against the United States in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), opposing the subsidies that the US gives to its 25,000 cotton farmers, said Sanat Mehta, former state finance minister and advisor to the Gujarat State Co-operative Cotton Federation (Gujcot).

Mehta said Gujarat's farmers will get 12 per cent higher prices than what they get at present if the subsidies to the US farmers are withdrawn.

Following the representation by Brazil in the WTO, the organisation is expected to officially declare that subsidies being given by the US to its cotton farmers is illegal.

The US farmers have been getting subsidies of around 43 per cent of their production costs.

"The agriculture interests of the US and countries in Europe clash with the exports of developing countries. I think the government of India must strongly back the Brazilian government in its case against the US subsidies to cotton farmers and even become party to the case," said Mehta, who has been fighting for the cause of farmers in the state.

Mehta said if farmers of the state get good prices for their cotton produce, other issues such as electricity will become secondary.

"Once farmers begin getting higher prices for cotton, they will be in a position to pay higher rates of electricity and other requirements," the leader said.

Cotton is widely grown across the state and Gujarat accounts for about 25 per cent of the country's total cotton production.

The production of cotton in Gujarat was 50 lakh bales last year and according to estimates drawn by the Gujcot, the production could go up as much as four times in the next few years.

"Gujarat is the only state, where the 'pulling mechanism' is followed. Farmers here sell cotton to the taluka mandalis, which in turn sell cotton to the district mandalis and finally Gujcot purchases cotton from the district mandalis," Mehta said.

He said farmers have been selling these to private traders even if they get only a few rupees more than what the mandalis gave them.

The state government had recently slashed the prices of cotton seeds produced by the Gujarat Seeds Corporation Ltd (GSCL) as more and more farmers have begun adopting the Bt cotton variety of seeds as these have proven to be extremely effective against bollworm disease.

The cost of Shankar brand of cotton seeds of the GSCL have been slashed by around 40 per cent.