Scrapping cotton import duty will push farmers into distress: Samyukt Kisan Morcha

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said in New Delhi on Monday (August 25, 2025) that the decision to scrap import duty on cotton would further push prices of domestic cotton downwards. Talking to reporters, SKM leaders said cotton producers in India could not compete with large, industrial-scale cotton farmers of the United States who had historically received massive government subsidies. “It has been estimated that, in the U.S., government subsidies are as high as 12% of the total value of production of cotton while in India, government support to cotton farmers is about 2.37% of the value of production. This massive disparity is at the core of the advantage U.S. cotton farmers have over cotton producers in developing countries,” the SKM leaders said.

The SKM said the immediate impact of this decision would be particularly severe as farmers in most cotton-growing areas had already sown their crops almost two months ago and sunk significant costs in anticipation of getting remunerative prices for their produce. “This move to scrap import duties comes at a particularly bad time as farmers prepare to harvest their crop,” they said.

“Cotton-growing regions of India are notorious for agrarian distress and death by suicides by farmers. The latest policy decision will further push cotton farmers into indebtedness and aggravate the economic distress,” the SKM leaders added.