Areca prices remain firm in 2020 despite lockdown

The Covid-induced lockdown in 2020 appears to have served the arecanut sector in acquiring a great selling price for the commodity at a time when the crop output was less in contrast to the prior year.

Mahesh Puchhappady, Basic Secretary of the All India Areca Growers’ Affiliation, told BusinessLine that the lockdown served farmers who had been influenced by the crop loss to the extent of all over 30-35 for each cent all through the year.

He said the strange increase in the temperature all through the summer months led to tender nut dropping in the arecanut plantations and also influenced flowering all through the period.

The output loss was compensated by the great selling price for the commodity all through the year generally for the reason that of the lockdown.

Campco’s encouraging hand

Thanking the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Advertising and marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd for its initiative to invest in arecanut from growers when there had been completely no buyers for it in the consuming market place, he said, “Campco’s courageous final decision prevented farmers from venturing into worry selling of the commodity.”

Campco experienced started out shopping for arecanut from growers on April 13 right before the end of the lockdown-one. It experienced fastened a base selling price of ₹250/ kg for new stocks and ₹275/kg for old stocks of white arecanut.

Campco officers experienced said then that the cooperative took this final decision to instil assurance amongst growers, however there no market place was functioning at the customers end then.

Inspired by Campco’s transfer, other arecanut cooperatives in purple arecanut growing areas this sort of as the Sirsi-primarily based TSS (Totagars’ Cooperative Sale Culture) also decided to enterprise and invest in arecanut from the growers.

Increase in selling prices

By the end of Could, equally white and purple versions of arecanut experienced witnessed raise in the selling prices from their pre-lockdown market place closure. In the pre-lockdown closure, white wide range was investing in the range of ₹250-260 a kg, and purple in the range of ₹340-370 a kg.

By December, equally white and purple arecanut experienced breached the ₹400 a kg mark in the market place.

The members in the arecanut cooperatives attributed the explanations this sort of as the total stoppage of import (equally by lawful and illegal usually means) all through the lockdown and the subsequent demand for the arecanut in the consuming market place in northern India as the raise in the selling price of the commodity.

Based on processing, arecanut is labeled as white and purple versions. White arecanut is well prepared by drying the ripe arecanut in the sun and dehusking it. Crimson arecanut is well prepared by dehusking inexperienced arecanut, and then boiling and drying it. White arecanut is produced in coastal Karnataka and some areas of Kerala, purple arecanut is produced in Shivamogga, Davangere and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka. The purple wide range is generally utilised in the manufacture of ‘paan masala’, and the white wide range for ‘paan’ planning.