Price crash leaves cabbage farmers in the lurch

Cabbage farmers have been facing stiff competition from their counterparts in Karnataka. Several farmers are leaving the crop in fields to become mulch

April 03, 2014 07:25 pm | Updated November 18, 2016 03:10 pm IST - VIJAYAWADA:

Cabbage at Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazar in Vijayawada.

Cabbage at Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazar in Vijayawada.

Cabbage farmers of Krishna district are facing stiff competition from their counterparts in Karnataka. The plummeting prices at the market and increased acreage with bumper crop in Karnataka are causes of concern. The farmers are planning to leave the crop as mulch to save further expenditure.

Cabbage was cultivated in over 1,000 acres in Kankipadu, Thotlavaluru and Vuyyuru mandals. The duration in which the crop matures is four months. The cost of cultivating the crop varies from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 an acre, but the return per acre currently was about Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000.

A cabbage farmer from China Ogirala in Vuyyuru Mandal, Donepudi Sivaji, told The Hindu that the cost of cultivation went up because of Diamondback Moth, more popularly called Cabbage Moth.

Farmers were attracted to cabbage because in December the crop fetched between Rs 70,000 and Rs 80,000 an acre. The cabbage can be cultivated only in the winter in Krishna district. Seedlings are sown in the middle of August and the season comes to a close by the end of April. In Karnataka, because of cooler climate the crop could be cultivated throughout the year. The sowing of cabbage increased in Karnataka also this year because the crop fetched up to Rs 1 lakh an acre last year.

The increase in sowing of the crop both in Krishna district and in Karnataka led to a crash in price, Mr Sivaji said.

With the prices crashing, many of the farmers have left the crop in the fields to become mulch and improve the fertility at least for the next crop. The cost of harvesting, packing and transportation was as high as Rs 800 per tonne. “The farmers are leaving the crop in the field because even the cost of harvesting and shipping would not be realised,” Mr Sivaji said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.