Cottoning on

On Monday,news had come that the Union ministry of textiles had imposed a “total ban” on the export of cotton. Pause to imagine this for a moment: India has just banned the export of its largest cash crop. Why? Because prices have risen this year: according to the Cotton Association of India,the price of long-staple cotton has increased 27 per cent in the past year,to Rs 7,958 per 100 kg. Those reflect international prices,which are today at record highs. But,in today’s India,can that ever even begin to be a reason to ban exports?

That ensures that cotton growers can’t benefit from higher prices; that they have to break contracts with users of raw cotton elsewhere in the world,causing them to acquire undeserved reputations for riskiness. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi,who represents a state where cotton growing is a major occupation (as is,crucially,the production of cotton yarn and textiles),has written a strongly-worded letter to the prime minister,calling the restriction “barbaric” and “anti-farmer”. This restriction is a barefaced victory for well organised interests — the cotton yarn industry lobby — at the expense of,once again,farmers.

There is another reason why this action is shockingly timed,as well as unacceptable in a mature,democratic economy. We are at the threshold of the annual meeting of South Asian heads of government. It has been the stated policy of this country,for strategic reasons,to enhance trade ties with its neighbours. Bangladesh’s textile industry is obviously dependent on Indian cotton exports. Surely decisions like these should be made keeping in mind India’s neighbourhood and the momentum towards economic integration in South Asia. Is pandering to the cotton yarn lobby worth impoverishing Indian farmers,ruining their reputations — and putting our national security at risk?