TIRUCHY: Farmers enthused by the procurement rate of around Rs 50/kg that ladies’ fingers commanded in the market until about two months ago and went on to cultivate the 45-day crop in the district are a worried lot as the price has now crashed to as low as Rs 2/kg over surplus supply conditions.
Incidents of such farmers dumping the produce into wells and even destroying their cultivation altogether without harvesting prevail across the district. Mentioning a kilogram of ladies’ fingers fetching a procurement rate of Rs 2.20 at the Manapparai wholesale market on Tuesday, K Senthil Kumar, a farmer of Therku Serpatti in K Periyapatti panchayat, said,
"In our village ladies’ fingers were planted over 40 acres. Many farmers who hoped for a decent price are facing huge losses." Sources from the horticulture department said the vegetable cultivation has been taken up over 102 acres across the district this season. Mani P, another farmer from Viyazhanmedu in Puliyur panchayat, said, “The wholesale market in Tiruchy is procuring from us at Rs 5’kg. It is unbearable. Ladies’ fingers have to be harvested daily.
To undertake harvesting over one acre, three labourers are needed and they have to be paid Rs 100 each for two hours of work. Transportation cost would come to Rs 150. For an acre of cultivation, I invested 5Rs 7,000 for seeds and another Rs 5,000 for agricultural inputs. Yesterday I sold 40 kg of ladies’ fingers for Rs 200. Many farmers in Pothavur and Kiliyur have destroyed their farm produce.
A few have stored the harvest hoping for better prices soon." Raja P, another farmer from Posampatti panchayat, said, "Before 25 days ladies’ fingers were procured for Rs 40 to Rs 50 a kilo. Many farmers went for its cultivation as the price was high for over 60 days.
The vegetable needs to command a procurement rate of at least `20/kg so that a farmer can avoid losses." In Tiruchy’s uzhavar sandhais, the vegetable was sold at Rs 12/kg while the price ranged between Rs 7 and Rs 14 a kilogram at Gandhi Market. Kamala Kannan MK, a trader in the wholesale market, said there is a visible surplus in the production of vegetables as compared to the previous season.