Price fall, low output take toll on arecanut farmers

WAYANAD: Sharp fall in prices as well as production of arecanut has hit farmers hard in Kerala’s Wayanad district, where the commodity used to sustain the farm sector during the September-February harvest season.

While attack of pests and torrential rains are believed to have brought the production down by 45%, arrival of processed arecanut from production centres in Karnataka has caused the price fall, farming circles here said.

In the local market, red-arecanut fetched Rs 36 per kg last week against Rs 42 per kg in the same period last year. The average price received by the growers in the first five months would not exceed Rs 32 per kg, down by about Rs 10, they got last year, a local farmer said.

Farmers had to face this setback against the expectation of higher prices due to fall in production. Besides, heavy uninterrupted rainfall from June had resulted in premature fall of nuts, followed by attack of pests.

Tackling the pests, on the other hand, pushed up the input cost higher than what it had been in the previous years.