Farmers in despair as glut pushes down cassava price
The Hindu
From ₹24 a kg, price slips to ₹5; farmers call for promotion of value-added products
O.S. Pratheesh, a successful paddy farmer, shifted to cassava (tapioca) cultivation a couple of years ago after he suffered huge losses in the deluge of 2018. Pratheesh, hailing from Muhamma in Alappuzha, reaped rich rewards from the tuberous roots in the initial days. Nowadays, he is disappointed as the returns on his investment are plummeting due to a price crash.
“There was a time when I used to get ₹24 for a kilogram of cassava. This time, I cultivated cassava on 25 acres of leased land in two districts. Recently, I was forced to sell the produce below ₹5, while Horticorp procured a few tonnes at a rate of ₹7 a kilo,” Pratheesh says. To avoid loss, farmers need to get at least ₹12 for a kilogram, he adds.