In continued relief to farmers, the procurement prices of ‘chali’ variety of arecanut (white arecanut) in the State further shot up by ₹ 5 a kg. on Wednesday, surpassing the rates which existed during the pre-lockdown days.
The prices jumped just in a gap of a day, from Monday to Wednesday.
The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd (CAMPCO), Mangaluru offered ₹275 a kg. to ‘hosa adike’ (fresh arrivals) and ₹300 a kg. to ‘hale adike’ (old stocks) on Wednesday.
The cooperative procured them at ₹270 a kg. and ₹295 a kg., respectively, on Monday.
When arecanut trading came to a halt across the country 42 days ago, the ‘hosa adike’ fetched ₹267 a kg. in the market. Now the farmers are getting ₹ 8 more. The prices of ‘hale adike’ was hovering between ₹295 and ₹ 300 during the days of pre-lockdown.
M. Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director, CAMPCO, told The Hindu that the prices of ‘hale adike’ might go up further when the consumer market in Gujarat fully opens up after the lockdown.3 as the Gujarat consumers demanded the old stocks. Now the major demand for the ‘hosa adike’ is from Uttar Pradesh which he said has lifted the ban on the sale of pan masala or scented supari after lockdown.2 ended.
Mr. Bhandary said that complete sealing of borders with the neighbouring countries has helped in the domestic prices going up as both legal and illegal imports of arecanut have been hit. Hence the consumer market in North India is now completely dependent on the domestic supply.
The cooperative had resumed arecanut procurement from April 13 to ensure that the stability in prices is maintained and the traders do not push the prices down by encouraging panic selling by farmers. The CAMPCO increased its procurement prices thrice since then.
The ‘chali’ variety is prominently grown in the coastal belt of Karnataka and Kerala.
