For Karnataka’s growers, areca a hard nut to crack Premium

Areca growers in Karnataka face rejection of produce, leading to price drop, amid quality concerns and disease challenges.

Areca growers in Karnataka experienced a rude shock recently when traders in north India rejected truckloads of their produce, citing poor quality. This hit the areca price in the market by nearly ₹10,000 per quintal. The growers, who were expecting returns up to ₹58,000 per quintal, are now selling their produce for around ₹47,000 per quintal.

Karnataka is the largest areca-growing State. The demand for nuts, particularly from the hilly Malnad region, is traditionally highest in north India, particularly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. The agriculture economy of many districts in the Malnad region and central Karnataka depend on areca cultivation.

When the produce was rejected, co-operative bodies of areca marketing in the Malnad region appealed to both the growers and traders to prioritise quality. The rejections have led to a war of words between the growers and traders.

The growers blame the traders. They allege that the traders mix different varieties of nuts and send loads of these to buyers in north India in the hope of higher returns.

Areca nuts are categorised as Nuli, Hasa, Rashi, Bette and Gorabalu depending on their look and feel, the experience of biting into them, their aroma, and so on. Nuli and Hasa are top quality nuts and are highly valued. Gorablu is of inferior quality.

According to marketing bodies, a few traders mixed Gorablu with Rashi and Bette. A truckload normally consists of 330 bags of nuts, each weighing some 70 kg. Farmers allege that traders mixed around 100 bags of Gorablu nuts with Rashi to make quick money.

As several truckloads of nuts have been rejected in recent months, the demand for areca nuts fell and the prices crashed. The growers maintain that they are suffering for no fault of theirs: they sell their produce to middleman, who in turn make a deal with traders. They allege that low quality nuts were mixed with better quality ones after the nuts were sold to middlemen.