KENDRAPARA: Betel farmers in the coastal pockets of Odisha are feeling the pinch of the ongoing war in West Asia, as exports of betel leaves from the region through Mumbai have come to a complete halt.
Currently, the price of 1,000 betel leaves ranges between Rs 1,600 and Rs 1,800 in domestic markets. In international markets, however, the same quantity fetches between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000. “The prices of betel leaves are likely to remain low as exports to the West Asian countries have halted,” said Sarat Mandal, a farmer from Jamboo village under Mahakalapada block.
According to Mandal, betel farmers from Odisha supply betel leaves worth nearly Rs 1,200 crore to Mumbai every year through trains.
Around 8,000 betel leaf farmers from Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri and Balasore districts export the leaves to West Asian countries through agents in Mumbai. However, exporters have now asked them to stop supplying the leaves until the situation improves.
Naresh Das, a railway booking agent for betel leaf traders in Bhubaneswar, said, “We used to send around 500 baskets of paan from Bhubaneswar to Mumbai by train every day. Supplies were made for 24 days in a month. Each basket contains around 2,000 betel leaves. After the US–Israel attack on Iran, the number has dropped to around 300 baskets per day as exporters in Mumbai have stopped purchasing paan due to the war.”
A Mumbai-based betel leaf exporter, Jogesh Chaurasia, said, “Exports of betel leaves to Gulf countries have stopped because of the suspension of direct flights and shipping services due to the war. For now, we are focusing on supplying the leaves to domestic markets across several cities after procuring it from Odisha.”