THRISSUR/PALAKKAD/IDUKKI: After a buoyant Onam, vegetable farmers in the state find themselves in distress. The market crashed after the festival due to a slump in demand. Now, vegetable prices have hit rock bottom.
In Palakkad, the price of tomato which stood at Rs 150 per kg in the first week of August and Rs 35 during Onam, has plunged to Rs 16. There are indications of a further dip in prices in the coming days. At Chelakkara, Thrissur, distressed farmers took to the social media issuing an appeal to customers to purchase tonnes of cowpea piled up at collection centres in tonnes. The price of organic cowpea hovered around Rs 100 per kg during Onam days.
However, the produce started piling up with the market closing on August 28. The Chelakkara Swasraya Karshaka Samithi, under the Vegetables and Fruits Promotion Council Kerala (VFPCK), which produces around five tonnes of cowpea a day, is now selling it at Rs 5 per kg. The samithi had 11 tonnes of cowpea at the collection centre which was sold at low rates on Monday with the help of social media.
“All our hardwork was wasted. The current prices don’t even cover our input cost. Farmers are taking a huge loss,” said society president T V Mathai. He said the society is yet to get Rs 1.5 lakh from Horticorp for vegetables procured nine years ago. Wholesale traders from other districts purchase vegetables from the society. Farmers allege that middlemen are trying push the prices down realising their distress. “There should be a mechanism to ensure fair price to farmers,” said Chelakkara panchayat vice-president Shaleel.
‘Vegetable prices tend to go down further’
At the wholesale market at Koduvayur in Palakkad, cowpea is sold at Rs 20 per kg, ladies finger between Rs 10 and Rs 12 per kg, and native brinjal (green) between Rs 10 and Rs 12 per kg, said Faizal, a wholesale dealer. “The post-Onam decline in the prices of vegetables is usual.
Prices will remain subdued in September and October due to increased local production during the season,” said VFPCK official P Uma. Meanwhile, farmers of Puthukudi in Munnar have complained that they suffered major losses during Onam itself on the back of poor cabbage and carrot prices. “We received Rs 15 per kg for carrot and `8 for cabbage.
We need at least Rs 25 for carrot and Rs 15 for cabbage to break even. However, the price of beans was good as we got Rs 40 per kg,” said Amrita Raj, secretary of Krishithanal, a farmers’ collective. Farmers under Krishithanal collective sell their produce directly to wholesalers which helps them get better prices compared to individual farmers who are exploited by middlemen.
“Horticorp had procured carrot at Rs 34 per kg, cabbage at Rs 14 and beans at Rs 40 per kg during Onam. However, they procured only limited quantities of vegetables and farmers were forced to depend on middlemen to sell the remaining stocks,” he said.
The situation was worse in Kanthalloor. Despite VFPCK’s support, vegetables were procured from farmers at lower price than previous years. “While carrot was sold at Rs 16, cabbage was procured for Rs 16 - 20 per kg. Beans also fetched only Rs 30 per kg,” Sivakumar, a farmer, said. “Prices tend to go down further. There is no demand for vegetables after the Onam season. The market will open only on Wednesday,” he added.
