KOCHI: The price of vanilla, which had fallen as low as `40 per kg in 2008, is showing a steady increase. But, attempts to revive cultivation of the spice in the State is not bearing fruits.
The reason: it has become difficult to grow the vanilla planifolia species, which is used for flavouring, due to unknown causes.
Also, the Spices Board, which had promoted the cultivation of vanilla in early 2000s and later drew flak from farmers when the price crashed, does not want to associate with vanilla again. The price of vanilla is ruling at `500 per kg, but the production of the ‘green beans’ this year would be just around 6 tonne.
This is in contrast to 800 tonne produced in 2004. The price of vanilla had peaked in 2002, at around 3,500 per kg, luring hundreds of farmers into its cultivation in Kerala. Then, many of the farmers had made the mistake of starting large-scale vanilla cultivation, after exiting from rubber and nutmeg farming.
Karnataka, another state where vanilla is grown, is expected to produce 50 tonne this year.
Farmers of Kothamangalam, Koothattukulam and Ramamangalam in Central Kerala, which were once the hubs of vanilla cultivation in the State, have completely deserted vanilla.“Now, whatever little we grow comes from Thankamani in Idukki district and some areas in Wayanad,” said M C Saju, a farmer who is also director of the Vanilla India Producers Co. Ltd (Vanilco).
Farmers expect vanilla prices to rise further, due to the fall in production in Mexico, a major vanilla producing country, owing to extreme heat, drought. Also, production plummeted in countries like Indonesia and India due to unsustainable prices.
“We have requested the Spices Board to develop a vanilla plant that is resistant to disease,” said Saju. “We also informed the Spices Board that Vanilco would take care of the promotion of vanilla among the farmers. The plan is to increase production only to a certain level so that there would be no glut. We don’t want a repeat of 2004,” said the Vanilco director. Vanilco, which was founded by 26 vanilla farmers’ associations, is sitting on 500 kg of vanilla extract stock that was procured at peak prices.
Company officials hope to recover the money in the next 2-3 years, when prices climb to the peak again.
