DHARMAPURI: While the farmers in Dharmapuri are delighted by the increase in the pricing of tapioca, they stated that the intervention of middlemen has led to low profits. Due to various reasons such as insect attacks, production has been low, due to which the price has gone up.
Tapioca is one of the most common crops in Dharmapuri, with it being cultivated on 7,269 hectares of land.
Last year, tapioca cropping had taken a severe hit due to the rainy season, mealy bug infestation and diseases, which led to a price hike and currently, tapioca is being sold at Rs 14,500 per tonne in the market. However, farmers claimed that middlemen who procure tapioca from the farmers only pay Rs 7,000 to 8,000 per tonne and stated that they are facing losses.
S Raja, a farmer from Kambainallur told TNIE, “Over the past few years, tapioca has become one of the most difficult crops to market. Between 2021-22, the average price was between Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500 per tonne. However, now the prices are at Rs 14,500 per tonne, but farmers are not able to get this price due to middlemen. The poor production due to several reasons has resulted in the price rise and the price will drop in a few months.”
Another farmer, R Jayapal from Morappur said, “Usually farmers sell tapioca in large amounts and we can cultivate somewhere about 6 to 7 tonnes of tapioca per acre. As there are no large Sago industries or other markets, we can only sell it to middlemen. They take it to other parts of the state like Salem, Namakkal and Erode and sell it. So, we have to give up a portion of the profits to the middlemen.”
State president of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam said, “This year tapioca prices are high as the demand exceeds supply. This situation will not last long, when the next batch of crops matures the prices will sink. For the past few years, the tapioca market has been extremely unstable. To stabilize the situation, we urge the state government to provide Rs 10,000 per tonne as Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the welfare of farmers.”
Officials from the horticulture department said, “There are no large mealy bug infestations now and we have provided large-scale training and educated farmers on control measures. As for the low supply of tapioca, it is seasonal and the market will stabilize. Regarding the private market, we cannot comment on it and the request for MSP is a policy decision.”