The Agriculture Department of Telangana with the help of Revenue Department has taken a novel decision to issue bar-coded tamper proof ID cards to all the cotton growers in the State to avoid middlemen in procurement of cotton and ensure provision of Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers.

The Agriculture Department is expecting around 3 crore quintals of cotton yield this kharif season which was 50 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Commissioner for Agriculture C Parthasarathi said that as per the intensive survey conducted by the Agriculture Department it is evident that 50 percent of total farmers in the State cultivated cotton this year due to favourable seasonal conditions and pest and disease-free situation besides temptation of higher market price during last year.

The department officials have already computerized all details of farmers, including the standing crop, hence it is not a Herculean task to issue bar-coded ID cards to farmers. The department is already on the job and within a fortnight they plan to issue cards with details of farmers’ name, village, mandal, district, survey number and extent of cotton cultivated area in acres, expected yield, Aadhar card number, bank account no and mobile phone number.

Systematic procedure

The bar-coded cards will be distributed to farmers through Village Revenue Officers (VROs) by deputing one Agriculture Market Committee (AMC) employee to obtain signature of the farmers.

According to Parathasarathi, the bar-coded ID cards will also put an end to the resale of cotton crop by the middlemen.

While the farmers come to the market to sell their produce they should bring the bar-coded ID card and same should be shown to Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) officials.

Next, the AMC employee will check the genuineness of the ID cards, duly placing them before computers linked with a scanner or swiping machine and issue gate entry pass. Later, the entire details will reach CCI officials and amount will be credited directly to farmers accounts as per MSP.

Once the amount is credited into the accounts of farmers they will receive an SMS to their registered mobile number. Under the new system the cotton farmers can avoid making several trips to the CCI and market yards to get money.