Poor price and not being a ‘notified crop’ are adversely affecting growers of kanvali kilangu (gloriosa superba), a medicinal plant widely grown in the district.
The crop constitutes almost 99 per cent of the total acreage under the medicinal plants in the district.
The seeds are used to produce phytochemicals. They are used in herbal medicines used to fight various ailments, including cancer. There is a huge demand for the medicine in European countries.
Now the crop is in the flowering stage.
The farmers feel that if the government do not announce a support price or extend loan facilities after declaring it as a ‘notified crop’, they would suffer heavy losses.
“We were getting as much as Rs. 1,750 for a kg of kilangu seeds five years back. The prices have slumped to Rs. 700 a kg. Only a handful of farmers get at least just over Rs. 1,000 a kg,” said B. Lingasamy, president of Tamil Nadu Gloriosa Superba Growers Association.
Farmers attributed the dip in prices to growing presence of various companies in Dharapuram and Mulanur belts, which act as middlemen for exporters.
“They create a glut in the market and naturally the prices will come down as farmers do not have enough air-conditioned storage houses in the region to keep the produce till the prices go up,” said Devi, another farmer.
Since the crop is not notified, the farmers could not use them to obtain loan for raising the next set of crop whenever they faced glut, said the farmers.
Raja Sankaralingam, a Tuticorin-based herbal medicine exporter and former chairman of Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council, said that there was a shrinkage in European market for the herbal extract products, which too contributed to the price slump. Horticulture department officials said that they had sent a proposal to the authorities to declare the crop as ‘notified’ to help the farmers.
