Idukki’s crop glut finds no market

With nil vegetable procurement, farmers in dire straits

Palraj, a farmer, blocks a vehicle with sacks of carrot demanding procurement of his produce at Vattavada in Idukki district.

Palraj, a farmer from Vattavada in Idukki, would have faced a criminal case had not the Idukki MP intervened on his behalf.

All Palraj did was to harvest carrot in his farm in the hope of procurement by Horticorp and when the agency refused to accept his produce, in desperation, he staged a protest in front of a Horticorp vehicle .

The agency filed a complaint with the police and a case was charged against him. Palraj says he had harvested seven sacks of carrot (each 50 kg). With the agency backing off, he was forced to sell the crop at ₹5 a kg.

Other farmers at Vattavada and Kanthallur too are facing a problem of plenty. Their crops are not being procured in view of the pandemic-induced restrictions. The first harvesting season has started and farmers have no avenues to sell their carrot, beetroot, potato, beans, garlic, and cabbage.

Raja, a farmer, says poor rainfall has delayed harvesting and now, vegetables have started arriving in bulk in the market. Because of lockdown, traders from Tamil Nadu too are not procuring vegetables. It is not a case of “poor demand,” but one of “no demand,” he says.

Farmers at Vattavada and Kanthallur used to sell their produce to Horticorp, Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam, and traders from Tamil Nadu. The Vattavada Cool-Season Vegetable Producers Marketing Society and the Kanthallur Cool-Season Vegetable Producers Marketing Society procure vegetables from hundreds of farmers and supply to Horticorp, which gives a remunerative price.

Jayaprakash, president of the Vattavada society, says farmers have no option but to abandon the harvested crops. The government should intervene to save them, he says.