The cotton marketing committee meeting failed on Thursday to resolve the crop marketing issue during the current season or issue a decision on handing it to the business sector’s spinning and weaving companies
Sources indicated conflicts had arisen when Agriculture and Land Reclamation Minister Adel al-Beltagy claimed that Trade and Industry Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour was taking the side of businessmen and private cotton marketing companies. The minister is seeking to pass the contract farming law to prevent the ongoing crisis from happening again, the sources added.
Official sources from the Agriculture Ministry told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the government’s policy offered farmers as prey for businessmen seeking control of the cotton marketing process. The government offered support of LE1,500 per acre. Productivity of one acre of cotton is estimated at 700 lbs, costing LE10,000
The ministerial committee’s decisions were not in favor of the farmers, the sources said, calling on the government to set mechanisms that guarantees preventing the farmers' current crisis of cotton overstock, which cause them to lose around LE5,000 per acre, making the total losses during the season from LE1 million to LE850 million, in addition to losses of LE2 million, which is the value of increase in costs of fertilizers.
In related news, the ministry’s efforts failed to urge ministers of investment, trade and industry to formulate mechanisms to resolve the marketing issues.
The Chamber of Commerce’s cotton trade division and the cotton general assembly filed memorandum to Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb to disburse the material support for farmers to assist them cover part of their losses due to deterioration of the crop price.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
