The farmers managed to get labourers to work for the plantation, pluck areca and peel it but when it came to drying the crop, the weather cheated the farmers. Since the farmers could not sun dry the areca, large part of the yeild is either getting rotten or getting spoilt due to some other reasons like fungus etc.
Some of the farmers are now using driers to dry the crops. Since one drier costs between Rs 30,000 to 40,000, poor farmers are banking on traditional smoking technique to dry the arecanuts. The farmers are left in dire straits because the smoking technique is not a reliable technique and further since the arecanuts lose colour when dried using this technique, farmers are compelled to go for it as there is no alternative. Since the trees have become damp, no climbers are ready to climb the areca trees to pluck the remaining arecanuts. Due to this, arecanuts are falling off and rotting on the ground.
Famers say that the government must provide public driers which could be used by small and medium farmers who cannot afford to purchase driers on their own.
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