Farmers, who raised black gram and green gram crops in Sirkali block, are grappling with the twin woes of poor yield and fall in wholesale purchase prices this year. The yield has reduced to one-third of last year’s harvest, they rue. “Out of five acres, I could harvest just eight bags of green gram, each of 100 kg, against 22 bags last year,” said S. Muthukumar of Athukudi village. “The price which stood at ₹6,000 has come down to just ₹5,200.”
Ditto with blackgram crop. S. Vasanthan, another farmer from the same village, said he raised black gram on an acre. Against six bags last year, he could get only three now. The price of each bag, which stood at ₹ 13,000 last year, had come down to ₹6,800.
Adding to the list of woes was the rodent menace, which caused extensive damage to the crop when it was nearing harvest.
To the farmers, the fall in prices against a low yield was a mystery. Especially, when they had not marketed their produce immediately and waited for the demand to increase in order to get better returns.
But wholesale dealers said the abundant supply of green gram and black gram from adjoining states, particularly Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, resulted in the fall in the prices of the two crops. Though the yield was poor in Tamil Nadu, the adjoining states registered a steady increase in terms of yield.
