The Hindu : Business : Marketfed to open cardamom auction centre in Idukki

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Friday, Jul 14, 2006

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Marketfed to open cardamom auction centre in Idukki

Staff Reporter

Steps to ensure fair price to growers

KOLLAM: V. Sathyaseelan, Chairman of Kerala State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd. (Marketfed), has said that the federation will start an auction centre for cardamom at Vandanmedu in Idukki district.

At a meet-the-press here on Thursday, he said Marketfed was entering the cardamom auction arena to ensure a fair price for growers of the produce and protect them from middlemen. For the purpose, Marketfed had applied for a licence from the Spices Board.

He wanted the State Government to ensure that the Marketfed's procurement price, declared by the Government for a particular commodity, remained at least on a par with the market price.

However, if the market price is lower than the procurement price, the Government should reimburse the additional price.

He pointed out that when the market price of pepper stood at Rs.55 a kg, the previous United Democratic Front Government had declared a procurement price of Rs.75 a kg.

Thus, Marketfed procured 4,755 tonnes of pepper at that rate.

Through the procurement, Marketfed had paid Rs.12 crores to pepper farmers over and above the market rate.

This additional price paid should be reimbursed, Mr. Sathyaseelan said.

He said Marketfed had submitted memoranda in this connection to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and other Ministers concerned.

The procurement was done by taking bank loans and Marketfed was paying an interest of Rs.1 lakh a day.

Some of the procured pepper was sold at the rate of Rs.65 a kg.

But Marketfed could not afford to sell more at that rate since the domestic and international market prices of pepper continue to remain lower than the procurement price.

As of now, pepper worth Rs.27 crores procured by Marketfed remained unsold owing to low prices.

Mr. Sathyaseelan said a memorandum would be submitted to the Union Minister for Commerce calling for duty on pepper imported from Sri Lanka.

The imports were causing the fall in pepper prices.

The memorandum would also have a plea that pepper should be imported only through the Kochi Port.

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