Cotton farmers are the worst hit this kharif what with the cotton bolls getting withered due to pest attack in Nizamabad district which might lead to a drastic fall in the yield. Cotton was sown in 3. 33 lakh hectares in Nizamabad district this kharif and some of the farmers were even forced to go for sowing for a fourth time due to drought conditions which resulted in a rise in the investment. However, the problems of the farmers continued even when the plants were growing.The dry weather and erratic power supply led to damage of the standing crop. Farmers are likely to get only 30-40 per cent yield this kharif which might not enable them get back the invested amount at least, forget about the profits.Further, the low price being offered by the private cotton traders is adding to their woes. The private traders are offering just RS 3,700 per quintal cotton while the farmers had invested nearly Rs 20,000 on cultivation of the crop in an acre.When provided with irrigation facility, farmers used to get an average of 10 quintal cotton per acre in black soil but this year, they might get only 4-5 quintal.In rain-fed land, farmers used to get 4 quintals of cotton but this year, they are expected to get only 2 quintal per acre which means they would be forced incur a loss of Rs10,000 per acre.Kodicharla Vishwanath, a farmer of Anandpur village in Jainad mandal, said there was only 2 quintal yield per acre in his three-acre cotton farm and that he had suffered huge loss this season.Similar situation is prevailing in many places in Adilabad division, where cotton cultivation is predominant, even though it is grown in other areas in the district.It is only a handful of farmers, having adequate irrigation facilities, who got a considerable yield in Tamsi, Talamadugu, Jainad and Adilabad mandals.The late sowing and drought conditions affected the growth the cotton plants, bolls and it even delayed the harvesting.

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