Seeking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said he was not consulted on the Commerce Ministry's decision to ban cotton exports.

"I was kept in dark on the issue. I came to know about this only after a notification was issued by DGFT on Monday," Pawar told reporters here on the sidelines of ICAR conference. Pawar said he has written a letter to the Prime Minister seeking revocation of the ban on cotton exports.

He said that such a decision, which would impact lakhs of farmers, should have been taken after proper consultations either in the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs or Cabinet Committee on Prices, like it is done in the case of wheat and sugar.

Describing the decision as harmful, Pawar said the cotton growers in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are in great distress as traders have stopped buying cotton from them after the decision.

"Export of cotton has been prohibited till further orders," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification on Monday.

The exports against registration certificates already issued would also be prohibited, it added.

The move is aimed at boosting domestic supply. Pawar as well as the textile industry was surprised by the decision. The move has also come in for a sharp criticism from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who said in a letter to Prime Minister that he was "shocked" over the decision that would prove "disastrous" for farmers.