Union Minister for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar today announced that the Centre is planning to introduce Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for the cotton farmers as well. He was speaking at the inauguration of the 74th Plenary of the International Cotton Advisory Committee in Mumbai. <br/><br/>The minister said, that Centre has kept the cotton growers interest in mind and increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for long staple cotton to Rs 4,100 per quintal for the 2015-16 marketing season. <br/><br/>He said that, a pilot project under the Direct Payment Deficiency System (DPDS) for paying MSP guarantee for the cotton farmers has been initiated at Hinganghat taluka of Maharashtra. <br/><br/>Under this system, the farmers will directly get the amount which is the difference between the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the market price. <br/><br/>For availing of the benefit, farmers would have to present proof of cotton sold at Agriculture Produce Market Committee yards, plus other papers such as ownership document, yield estimation and other details. If the pilot is successful, the DPDS would be rolled out in all cotton growing regions.