TN tapioca farmers in tight corner: PMK

Claiming that tapioca farmers in Tamil Nadu were facing a crisis due to a steep fall in the procurement price, PMK today urged the State government to fix a Minimum Support Price for it to help ryots tide over the crisis.
"Tapioca farmers are deeply anguished as the procurement price has fallen steeply," PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said here.
Stating that they were in a "crisis," he said last year farmers were getting upto Rs.15,000 a ton for it. However, it has drastically come down and the going price is just between Rs.1,800 to Rs.2,500, he said in a statement.

The steep fall in prices was "not understandable" especially when the production has not increased, he said adding farmers blame the unregulated market for the downtrend.
Farmers claim that "traders and middlemen" have led to an artificial decline in prices, he said.
"Tamil Nadu government can make the way for farmers getting a reasonable price for tapioca by fixing a Minimum Support Price for it," he appealed.
Farmers claim that the cost of cultivation for a ton of tapioca is Rs.5000. "This may be confirmed through the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and a MSP may be arrived by adding 50 per cent to the cost of cultivation," he said.