Kerala - Kattappana   

Low prices worrying pepper farmers

KATTAPPANA: Low yield coupled with fall in prices are worrying pepper farmers in the district. Though the harvest season for pepper begins in January, it lasts till March in high range areas.

Price of pepper ranged between Rs.150 and Rs.160 a kg last season. However, the average price during this season is Rs.130.

Joseph Kurien, a pepper farmer here, said that besides low prices and low yield, high labour charges are also a cause for concern.

The total area of cultivation has also shrunk due to various diseases affecting the pepper plants. Climatic changes and low fertility of the soil in the high ranges also affect the yield, Mr. Kurien said. He said that the government should carry out a study on the diseases that caused crop damage in large areas recently.

The price of pepper which had touched Rs.240 a kg nearly a decade ago started falling since 2002 and reached about Rs.60 during the 2004 season.

From 2006, the prices started to recover, though total production fell considerably.

It is estimated that 64,000 hectors in the district is under pepper cultivation. Of this, nearly 20,000 hectors of land under pepper cultivation is spread across Nedumkandam, Konnathady Adimaly, Vellathooval, Vathikudy, Rajakumari and Rajakkad grama panchayats.

“There is a considerable fall in the total production. A proper survey on the area under pepper cultivation will bring to light the fact that both the area under pepper cultivation and the total yield have fallen,” said T. Nandakumar, another farmer. He said that the total production this year would be only half of that last year.

Wilt diseases, foot rot (quick wilt) and pepper yellows (slow wilt), are the major diseases affecting the black pepper plants.

Farmers said that in disease-affected areas replanting also became unsuccessful. Also, the high prices of fertilisers and pesticides make it uneconomical to continue with pepper cultivation.

In the Erattyar, Udumpanchola and Bison Valley areas, the production has considerably fallen due to wilt diseases. But the Agriculture Department has not come out with any proper plan to promote pepper cultivation, leading to fall in production every season, said Mr. Nandakumar.

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