MANGALURU: The price of white arecanut grown widely in Coastal Karnataka and parts of Kerala has doubled in a gap of just one year. On Wednesday, the price of old stock in the domestic market stood at Rs 505-520/kg, while that of new stock was Rs 425-440/kg.
A year ago, while the price of old stock was hovering around Rs 260, for the new stock it was Rs 220.Experts in the field say that the arecanut prices have doubled in a matter of just one year for the very first time and attribute it to low harvest of the crop during the current season and tightening of country’s borders, thereby preventing the arrivals of illegal imports from Indonesia and Myanmar, routed through Nepal.
Kishore Kumar Kodgi, president, The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Limited (CAMPCO) said while the arecanut harvest is down by over 40 per cent this time due to rains and fruit rot disease (kole roga), the demand for arecanut for supari and other uses is on a steady rise, especially in North India. Also, many big farmers have resorted to hoarding in the hope of the prices shooting up further. All these factors have resulted in a record jump in the prices.
However, he felt that the record jump in the last one year is ‘not a big rate’ when it comes to individual farmers because of sharp decline in the harvest. “While the prices have doubled, the yield has also dwindled, which should be taken note of,” he said. Looking at the current trend, he anticipates that the prices may further go up in the coming days and may not go down anytime soon.
Meanwhile, despite the CAMPCO announcing Rs 505 a kg for old stock, its procurement centres in Karanataka and Kerala did not see many arrivals, which indicates that the growers are hoping for the prices to go up.
‘not a good sign’
While many growers are celebrating the jump in arecanut prices, some feel that the steep hike is not a good sign. Govind Bhat, a grower from Peruvai in Bantwal taluk, said the development could be disastrous, especially for the small growers, if the prices do not stabilise in the coming years. “Small growers are likely to imitate the lifestyle of big growers when they get a lot of money in their hands,” he said.