Cotton, often referred to as "white gold", remains central to the agrarian economy of Telangana. In 2025, the crop presents a paradox: higher production estimates on paper alongside widespread distress in farmers' fields. While official projections suggest an increase in total output, continuous and untimely rains during critical crop stages triggered an irreversible quality crisis. Prolonged moisture during boll maturation caused pre-harvest seed germination inside unopened cotton bolls, sharply reducing fibre quality, market acceptance, and farmer incomes. This article documents field-level observations from Gunturpalli village of Warangal district and nearby regions, highlighting how excess rainfall, rather than pests or acreage decline, emerged as the single biggest factor pushing farmers away from Minimum Support Price (MSP) realization. The Telangana cotton story of 2025 underlines the urgent need to shift policy focus from production alone to quality protection under climate variability.