Garlic price nosedives in Idukki

More acreage results in higher production, less demand

Farmers harvesting garlic at a farm in Kanthallur, Idukki district.

Garlic farmers in Vattavada and Kanthallur, the cool-season vegetable villages of the State, are facing a slump in price. Vattavada agriculture officer P.B. Shanavas on Friday said that around 220 hectares was under garlic cultivation in the region and the farmers had incurred heavy losses. Farmers had shifted to garlic cultivation as the price was high last year, when the crop’s acreage was 180 hectares. “Last year’s price was ₹300 to ₹320 a kilogram. Now it is ₹80 to ₹110,” said Marimuthu, a farmer.

He had purchased seeds from Mettupalayam at ₹150 a kilogram. The cost incurred for cultivation could not be recovered at the present price, he said.

High oil content

The Singapore and Mettupalayam varieties of garlic cultivated in the two regions are mostly sold in the Vadugapatti market in Tamil Nadu for medicinal purposes. With a unique taste, the oil content in the two varieties is high. “We should get at least ₹120 a kilogram to make cultivation profitable,” he added.

Farmers usually opt to cultivate the crop which fetched a high price the previous season. This results in large-scale shifting towards that crop, he added. More production results and price comes down.

The total acreage of garlic cultivation in Kanthallur is around 100 hectares. It was less than 30 hectares two years ago, said an official of the Kanthallur Vegetable Cultivating Farmers Marketing Society.

Mr. Shanavas said the main problem faced by farmers was lack of stable prices for their produce. “It is to fetch a steady market that the government has moved for the geographical Indication (GI) tag for garlic cultivated in the region,” he said. Mr. Shanavas said the Chinese variety of garlic, priced ₹30 to ₹50, is preferred in Kerala. However, Horticorp procured around 15 tonnes of garlic from Vattavada this Onam season, he said.