Arecanut farmers now in distress

Arecanut farmers across major growing areas in Karnataka and Kerala are in distress following the fall in the prices of the commodity in the wholesale markets in both states. The prices of red arecanut have fallen 26 per cent to Rs 85 per kg and white arecanut has seen a drop of around 18-20 per cent to Rs 65 per kg towards the end of December 2008 and early January 2009 compared to the same period last year.

The prices of choll supari (old stock) have fallen Rs 15 per kg to stay at Rs 80-85 per kg compared to the prices in October 2008 leaving the small and marginal farmers in deep distress in the coastal and malnad districts of Karnataka and Kerala.

Arecanut is the major commercial crop in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada and Malnad districts like Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Tumkur, Davanagere and Hassan among others in Karnataka and the entire coastal belt of Kerala. The crop is harvested during the months of November to February.

Following the fall in prices of arecanut, farmers in Karnataka have sought intervention of the state and announce a support price to save them from further losses. The last time the support price was announced was in 2004-05, when the prices had hit a rock bottom.

According to officials at the Central Arecanut Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd, the multi-state cooperative society between Karnataka and Kerala, the largest buyer and seller of arecanut in the country, famers had to face a setback against the expectation of higher prices due to fall in production.

While the exact production this year is yet to be ascertained, the crop is likely to be around the same as last year. Last year, the arecanut production was estimated at 556,000 tonnes across the country, of which Karnataka contributed 225,000 tonnes, about 40 per cent of the production. Around 90,000 hectares is under arecanut cultivation in Karnataka.

While the prices have been falling this year, the farmers are unable to even recover their cost of production. The cost of cultivation was around Rs 82 per kg for red arecanut and Rs 110 per kg for the white arecanut. The farmers had to tackle pest attacks and a huge shortage of labourers. The average labour charges have gone up to Rs 125-150 per day per person as against Rs 80 per day fixed by the government for farm labourers. “We have to pay higher wages to these labourers as there are not enough of them in the coastal and malnad areas,” industry sources said.