The trading of arecanut at Shivamogga Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) resumed on Monday.
It may be mentioned here that in the wake of a slump in the price of arecanut, the trading of the produce was suspended here for four days from July 26.
25% drop
The price of arecanut had declined by around 25% in the last four months. Blaming the mismatch between the demand and supply for the slump in the price, the farmers demanded a halt in arecanut transactions at the market for sometime to ensure recovery of the price.
Signs of recovery
S.S. Jyothiprakash, president, Shivamogga APMC, told The Hindu that the trading was normal at the market on Monday and the price had shown signs of recovery.
“The price of rashi idi variety that was at ₹29,000 per quintal on July 25 has escalated to ₹31,000 on Monday. The price of saraku, gorabalu, chali varieties have also displayed a similar recovery,” he said.
Meanwhile, the first phase of physical verification of arecanut stock at the disposal of merchants registered with Shivamogga APMC has concluded.
Physical verification
It may be mentioned here that in the wake of complaints that inflated figures on stock presented by some merchants had resulted in a decline in the price, the APMC had undertaken physical verification of the stocks with the merchants from July 19 to 26.
B.M. Srinivas, secretary, Shivamogga APMC, said that in the first phase, the verification was done through licensed weigh-men. In the verification it emerged that the total stock with the merchants registered with APMC was at 2.30 lakh bags, each bag weighing 70 kg. The documents maintained with the mandis on the transactions were also scrutinised.
The second phase of verification through the officials serving with APMC had commenced and will conclude by August 5, he added.
