Prices of the vanilla crop have more than doubled in the last two years, but farmers have not been able to capitalise on the situation since many had given up its cultivation.
Vinayaka Hegde, marketing manager of Kadamba Marketing Souharda Sahakari Niyamita, a cooperative society in Sirsi, that procures vanilla beans from farmers in Uttara Kannada, Udupi, and Shivamogga districts told The Hindu that the price of the premier variety of dry vanilla beans, which was ₹11,500 per kg in March 2015 has jumped to ₹27,000 per kg today. The low yield in the past two years in Madagascar, which produces 80% of the world’s vanilla, is attributed as the reason for the rise in prices locally.
Though there was an increase of 25% in prices between March 2015 and March 2016, it began to shoot up in the past one year. In March 2016, the price was ₹14,500 per kg and by March 2017 it was ₹24,000 per kg. The demand is so high today that vanilla beans of second-rate variety — thin, unripe, and brownish-green in colour — are sold at ₹14,000 per kg, he said.
When the prices of vanilla had shown a similar northward movement in the 2003-2006 period, many farmers in Malnad region had taken up cultivation on their arecanut plantations using inter-cropping method. M. Vishwanath, Deputy Director of Department of Horticulture, told The Hindu that the rush for vanilla cultivation then was such that many farmers constructed polyhouses on the terrace of their homes.
However, farmers gradually lost interest in the crop as prices declined and poty-virus infections destroyed many vanilla vines. When the price decline continued, in 2008, many Malnad region farmers burnt vines and grew pepper and betel vines instead. At present, vanilla is being cultivated on 500 hectares in Karnataka, he said.
Kedaranarayana Kolle, a farmer from Yelvadikavoor village in Bhatkal taluk, who grows vanilla on four acres said it is a labour-intensive crop and requires care as each flower has to be hand-pollinated. The shortage of agriculture labour in Malnad region was another reason why farmers gave up its cultivation, he said.
Mr. Vishwanath said farmers are again showing interest in vanilla. Siddappa, owner of a nursery on the outskirts of the city, said there has been a shortage of vanilla planting material and farmers are being made to wait for at least three months after placing the order. There was a similar demand when the prices went up during 2003-2006, he said.
