The Hindu : Kerala News : Vanilla farmers seek better prices

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Vanilla farmers seek better prices

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, MAY 31. A delegation of vanilla farmers owing allegiance to the Palai-based Organic Spices Growers Forum have urged the Spices Board to convene a meeting of vanilla farmers and traders to discuss the problems faced by the farmers. The farmers met the Spices Board chairman and sought the Board's assistance to work out a scheme that would be helpful to the vanilla growers as well as traders.

The Forum had convened a meeting of farmers in Kochi recently. Vanilla growers' associations from Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu participated in it. The farmers in these States felt the need for an issue-based networking in the wake of huge price variation last year, according to Zacharias Puthiyathu, secretary of the Forum.

Last year, when farmers in Idukki were able to fetch Rs.3,750 for a kg of raw vanilla beans, Kannur farmers got only Rs.1,800 a kg. Had there been a better flow of information between the farmers in various parts of the State, this situation would not have arisen, he said. He pointed out that leading international marketing websites had quoted a retail price of about Rs.29,000 a kg for processed Madagascar grade vanilla bulk sale. The Indian farmer who produces an equivalent grade is not getting a proportional rate, according to him.

It was decided at the meeting to open a website on vanilla marketing and information dissemination, in liaison with the Spices Board. The website is expected to provide marketing coordination with domestic and international traders and share know-how on processing of vanilla.

The meeting discussed several issues confronting the growers' community. The farmers also decided to find suitable buyers in Europe, to take initiatives for collective processing and storage and to market processed vanilla with the help of the European Union.

The farmers expressed the opinion that the procurement prices of vanilla should be pegged to international levels. They agreed that uniform standards of quality should be maintained so that arbitrary decisions of the traders should not affect the prices. The meeting suggested that suitable steps be taken to increase the domestic demand of vanilla and its derivatives.

Among the organisations represented at the vanilla growers' meeting included the Indian Spice Associates, Karnataka; Malabar Vanilla Growers Association, Kannur; Vanilla Growers' Association, Kozhikode; Coimbatore Organic Vanilla Growers Association; Pollachi Vanilla Growers Association; All Kerala Vanilla Growers Association, Ramamangalam; Karshakavedi, Kerala; Eco-friendly Farmers Forum, Kottayam; PTD Farmers, Kerala; and the Kerala Karshaka Koottayma.

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