Bumper tapioca yield fails to lift spirits of nearly 10 lakh farmers in TN

COIMBATORE: As demand for sago has dipped, tapioca prices have also fallen drastically, despite a bumper yield due to favourable climatic conditions.

“Sago manufacturers buy one tonne of tapioca for Rs 6,000 as against Rs 11,000 and above in the last two years. Currently, 1,000 tonnes of tapioca is harvested daily from the hill areas, and is likely to increase gradually to 3,000 tonnes per day, once harvest commences in the plains and may reach up to 10,000 tonnes per day,” said R Gopalakrishnan, president of the Tapioca and Maize Farmers Association.

Tapioca is harvested till February next year.

As tapioca fetched a reasonable price in the previous years, many farmers switched over to its harvest, and production also peaked due to good rains.

“Perhaps, sago manufacturers and traders have formed a syndicate to purchase tapioca from farmers at a low price,” claimed farmers.

It has been a long-time demand by farmers to the government to form a co-operative society and also establish sago production units in Salem, Namakkal, Kallakurichi, Karur and Erode, where tapioca production is high.

This will ensure farmers get better pricing for their produce. Also, efforts should be made to produce value-added products like starch and glucose.

“In this region, mainly starch and sago are produced. But there is a bigger market for glucose and huge export potential. Farmers should be trained and assisted in exploring the export potential of glucose,” S Narayanamurthy, a tapioca farmer from Omalur in Salem.

Glucose is generally made out of corn and wheat, whereas it is likely to be of finer quality when made of tapioca. The price of glucose may come down considerably when made of tapioca rather than corn or wheat. Across India, Tamil Nadu is a major producer of tapioca.

In order to turn the tide towards better fortune, the tapioca farmers have been demanding the setting up of glucose manufacturing units. Taking up things in their hands, a collective of farmers has also decided to come together and give a try at glucose manufacturing.

“Around 3,000 farmers from Salem and neighbouring districts have decided to join hands, avail bank loans, and establish a factory to produce glucose in a few months. For glucose production, the machineries need to be imported from Thailand, said Gopalakrishnan.

More than ten lakh farmers are cultivating tapioca in over 25 lakh acres of land in Salem, Namakkal, Erode, and neighbouring districts.

SAGO SAGA

· 350 is the present number of units producing sago in the state

· Rs 3,200 is the current price of sago, which was selling at Rs 6,000 in the previous years

· 5 lakh bags of sago have stagnated due to poor demand for Navratri

· Tamil Nadu tops in sago production, with the main hubs being Salem and Namakkal

· Sago is mainly exported to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat

· Stakeholders have demanded the resumption of sago sales at PDS outlets

· Rs 6,000 per tonne is the present selling price of tapioca, as against Rs 11,000 last year

· Farmers have demanded that the government set up a glucose manufacturing facility