CCI opens Kapas Kisan registration as cotton arrivals near 60,000 quintals | Chandigarh News
Bathinda: Two weeks after cotton started arriving in Punjab’s grain markets, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) on Thursday opened registration on its Kapas Kisan app and slot booking for govt procurement.Nearly 60,000 quintals of cotton has arrived in the state so far. Private traders and millers have purchased 59,477 quintals, while 482 quintals remains unsold and 1,146 quintals has fetched prices below the govt-mandated minimum support price (MSP).Registration on Kapas Kisan will remain open till Nov end. CCI purchases cotton only from farmers registered on the app after uploading their land records. The app was introduced in the 2025-26 season to bring transparency to procurement.Ginning factories and private traders began purchasing cotton on Sept 1, while CCI procurement started on Oct 1.Farmers have sown cotton on only 80,000 hectares this year after successive pest attacks. The state is expected to produce at least 8 lakh quintals, based on the acreage.“Purchases will soon be started in 13 grain markets of the state at the minimum support price (MSP),” said CCI Bathinda centre section officer (marketing) Dinesh Rajpoot.The MSP for medium-staple cotton for 2026-27 is Rs 8,267 per quintal and Rs 8,667 for long-staple cotton. Punjab produces cotton with 26.5-27.5mm staple length, which fetches Rs 100-200 less than the long-staple MSP.The MSP applies to cotton with 8% moisture. For every 1% excess moisture, 1% is deducted from the MSP, up to a maximum moisture level of 12%.Cotton is currently fetching Rs 8,000-8,100 per quintal. Farmers are getting lower prices as moisture levels have exceeded the permissible limit.The lowest price recorded this season is Rs 6,300 per quintal and the highest Rs 9,200, said Punjab State Agricultural Market Board chairman Harchand Singh Barsat.
