Cotton arrivals rise to 3.19 lakh quintals in Punjab

Cotton arrivals have picked up in market yards of Punjab due to higher production, touching 3.19 lakh quintals so far, officials said.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today reviewed the ongoing procurement of cotton and reiterated his government's commitment that entire crop would be purchased at minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 4,220 per quintal, an official statement said.
The chief minister interacted with senior officials of the state government besides officials of Agriculture Department and Mandi Board.
The Secretary Mandi Board said that so far, approximately 3.19 lakh quintals of cotton had arrived in the various cotton markets of the state, the statement said.

The officials informed the chief minister that the procurement was being carried out smoothly and there were very few instances involving quality issues.
The officers present in the meeting informed the Chief Minister that the cotton was being purchased above MSP barring a very little quantity of cotton that had quality issues.
A heavy rush of cotton crop has been witnessed and the arrival is almost double of last year and the production is also substantially higher.
The Secretary Mandi Board briefed the Chief Minister that the cotton crop was procured across the state today between Rs 4,350 and 4,220.