SHIMOGA: The Malnad areca appears to be the most sought after commodity in the Shimoga Agricultural Regulated market, one of the leading areca markets in the State, thanks to a hike in its price.

The rates of the saraku or hasa (superior quality) and the bette varieties of the areca that ruled the regulated markets on Wednesday were the highest ever as the highest rate quoted was Rs. 23,899 a quintal and the lowest was Rs. 21,510.

Mood upbeat

The unusual buoyancy in the market was cause for cheer among growers. The upbeat mood is likely to encourage more farmers to take up areca cultivation. What is surprising is that the selling price of the saraku variety had not exceeded Rs. 22,000 a quintal even while the open market rate was Rs. 24,000. However, the higher rates that existed in the regulated market for saraku and bette varieties on Wednesday, at Rs. 23,869 and Rs. 19,789 a quintal respectively, broke all records.

The sudden spurt in the rates of various varieties of the Malnad areca has helped growers meet the demand in north Indian markets. However, the abnormal rise in the rates of the Malnad areca is attributed to the sudden fall in the daily inflow of stock into the Shimoga market which is said to have come down by 300 quintals for each variety.

The Malnad Areca Marketing Cooperative Society and the Central Areca and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Society, the major marketing agencies for arecanut in Malnad region, used to keep a stock of nearly 50,000 quintals of each variety every year.

However, this time they could not keep any stock owing to poor inflow of stock into the market.

Stocks arrive

Though the supply of areca to the Shimoga market is expected to pick up after Vijay Dashami when the traditional harvesting of arecanut begins, it has started receiving stocks from areca-growing areas in Bayalu Pradesh such as Shimoga, Bhadravati, Channagiri, Tarikere, Birur and Bheemasamudra.

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