Areca nut farmers demand procurement centres

Farmers led by Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam district president (Coimbatore district) S Palanisamy came up to the Collectorate during the grievance day meet.

They claimed that they are forced to take their nuts to central government run procurement centres at Kasaragod in Kerala and Mysore in Karnataka.

“Taking them a long way costs much for the farmers as they don’t get remunerative pricing for their produce. Met with severe loss, the number of farmers taking up areca nut cultivation has been on the decline. The state government should set up an areca nut procurement centre in Coimbatore for the convenience of farmers,” said S Palanisamy.

Also, the farmers sought the government to devise special schemes to promote areca nut farmers and encourage the making of value-added products. Areca nut farms are spread over an area of 25,000 to 30,000 acres in Thondamuthur, Mettupalayam, Sirumugai, Pollachi and Anaimalai areas, where water is available for agriculture.

“An acre yields up to seven tonnes of nut, while one kilogram is sold for Rs 28 to Rs 35, based on their quality,” said a farmer. Both the area of cultivation and number of farmers involved in areca nut farming has come down sharply over the years.