JOIN USRain ruins areca crop in Kalasa
The untimely summer rainfall in Kalasa has made the lives of red arecanut growers miserable as the farmers are not in a position to either dry the harvested crop or dispose of it.
When tender arecanut is harvested, mixed in natural colours from the peels of tender arecanut and dried, it converts into red arecanut. If the tender arecanut is allowed to mature and is then harvested, it becomes white arecanut.
The region witnessed rainfall just as the areca growers started the process of getting red arecanut. The arecanuts that were kept for drying got wet and some even developed fungus.
As a result, the areca growers are forced to process the arecanuts again and dry them. After all the double round of work, the quality of arecanuts reduces and fetchs the growers far lesser price.
“As compared to last year, the yield of arecanut is lesser this year. The labour cost to pluck arecanuts has only increased. If the processed arecanuts get wet due to rain, what are we to do?” ask the growers.
The price for red arecanut too does not prove lucrative for the growers. The price was Rs 40,000 a quintal last year, but has slipped to Rs 29,000 this year.