Triggered by sharp fall in domestic production and growing demand, prices of pepper have soared to seven-year high radically reversing the downtrend persisted since 1999-2000. | |
| The prices of different grades of pepper ranged between Rs 14,000 and Rs 14,400 a quintal this week against Rs 5000-6000 last year, according to trading circles in Wayanad district, which accounts for nearly half of Kerala's pepper production. |
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| A major factor contributing to the spurt in prices was fall in domestic production by nearly 50 per cent from the normal 70,000 tonne. |
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| International Pepper Community (IPC) had anticipated this season's production to be 65,000 tonne but the post-harvest figures showed it to be 35,000 tonne, a trader said. |
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| In all likelihood, the price trend would continue as the shortfall in demand was unlikely to be met through imports, market sources said. Medium traders as well as farmers, however, fear that big traders would lobby for cut in import duty on pepper to pave way for bulk import from Vietnam, which has overtaken India as world's leading pepper producer. |
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| As the production did match even the domestic demand, the shortfall is likely to be filled by release of previous stock by big farmers, who would be keenly watching the movement of price, sources said. |
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| The pepper prices this year have begun to go up after the harvesting in January, which leaped from Rs 10,800 to Rs 14,400 since mid-March, market sources said. The prices touched the dizzying heights of Rs 26,500 a quintal in 1999-2000 but had been steadily going down since then. |
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| Last year, the highest price offered to farmers by the state-supported procurement programme was as low as Rs 7500 a quintal. The Government had to offset the loss suffered by the co-operative agencies involved in procurement last year. |
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| The productivity has also taken a severe beating over the years as pepper vines are afflicted by diseases and pests. |
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| It is in view of this, proposed central rehabilitation package for cash crops in Kerala lays its thrust on improving productivity through replantation and rejuvenation of major crops including pepper. |
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| Small and marginal growers are unlikely to have been benefited from the price increase as their output have either been sold immediately after harvesting or cornered by futures traders at low rates before harvesting. |
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| The farmers unions here fear that the big traders would lobby for cut in import duty on pepper when the country sign trade pact with ASEAN. |
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| Independent farmers' forum Infam has come out against the move to scrap the export subsidy on pepper. |
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