Out of season rains in Kerala have reduced pineapple demand among consumers, leaving farmers with plentiful supplies and causing a crash in prices of over 50 percent. As of Monday 23 May, the price at Vazhakulam-Muvatapuzha markets had fallen to below Rs 10 (USD 0.15) per kg. The average price of the fruit is usually in the Rs 20-30 (USD 0.30 -0.44) per kg range with good demand from the up-country and West Asia market.
Lower demand due to rains in neighbouring states also led to lesser transportation of the fruit. Varied size and ripeness of the fruits are also adding to the misery and farmers are reluctant to harvest the fruits in many plantations, sources added.
“Farmers need a minimum of R18-20 (USD 0.27 – 0.30) per kg to meet the cost of cultivation. Many farmers took to cultivating pineapple after 2013-14, when prices regularly crossed R40 (USD 0.59) per kg and even breached R50 (USD 0.74) for a short time,” said Noble John of the Pineapple Farmers Association, Vazhakulam.
Farmers and traders say that support by the government in the form of a minimum support price and procurement in times of glut would have helped a lot. A protest by the farmers last year led the government to announce a support price of R17 (USD 0.25) per kg but procurement has been poor due to various factors. Nadukkara Agro Processing Company (NAPCL), a company formed by the government to help farmers, is in bad shape and not helping, John added.
NAPCL is also trying its hand at exporting pineapples to West Asian countries but operations have stalled in the recent past due to various issues.
Indian pineapples can effectively compete in the West Asian market, which is dominated by the Philippines and Sri Lanka. NAPCL has been so far exporting only processed pineapple products such as pineapple juice concentrate.
Source: Fresh Plaza