The fall in the price of groundnut at a time when the harvest season is in full swing is a matter of concern for the farming community of Thammampatti, and Gangavalli.
A large number of farmers have raised groundnut crop in the villages surrounding Thammampatti, and Gangavalli. The harvesting of the crop has already began.
The farm workers initially remove the plants and later pluck the groundnut.
The price of 70 kg bag of pre-dried groundnut which stood at ₹ 1,800 a couple of weeks ago has crashed to ₹ 1,500. The price of the dried groundnut has come down from ₹ 2,200 to ₹ 1,900.
The farmers said that they have to spend about ₹ 28,000 for raising the groundnut crop in one acre of land. While about ₹ 4,000 is spent for the purchase of groundnut seed, ₹ 5,000 is spent for manuring, ₹ 7,000 for the removal of weeds. During the harvest period, about 25 farm workers are employed for the removal of plants and plucking of the groundnut and they were paid wages to the tune of ₹ 5,000 a day.
The farmers get a yield of 25 bags from an acre of land. The revenue fetched by marketing this crop is not adequate enough, they said adding that a reasonable increase in the price alone will bring relief to the farmers.
