4 months ago
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In an lawsuit underscoring the persistent trouble faced by farmers successful securing remunerative prices for their produce, P. Nandagopal (46), a husbandman from Diginarai colony successful the Thalavadi Hills, was near with conscionable ₹140 arsenic the last payout aft selling 5.94 tonnes of cabbage astatine ₹3 a kg done a committee mandi successful Mettupalayam, adjacent arsenic the rootlike is sold astatine ₹30 to ₹40 a kg successful retail markets. Farmers expressed heavy interest implicit the stark disparity betwixt farm-gate and retail prices.
The 90-day harvest is extensively cultivated successful the elevation region, peculiarly betwixt October and May, erstwhile favourable climatic conditions prevail. Traders procure cabbage from cultivators astatine prices ranging from ₹1 to ₹20 a kg, depending connected seasonal availability and marketplace demand, and merchantability it successful markets crossed Erode, Mettupalayam, and parts of Kerala.
Data from the Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops amusement that the country nether cabbage cultivation successful the hills roseate sharply from 78 hectares successful 2018–19 to 427 hectares successful 2022–23, earlier declining to 298 hectares successful 2023–24, 406 hectares successful 2024-25 and 480 hectares successful 2025-26 (till January 2026). Despite the enlargement successful cultivation, astir farmers accidental their fiscal losses person been mounting each year. Pest infestation, peculiarly by the diamondback moth, illness incidence, and debased prices proceed to beryllium large issues. Farmers estimation the outgo of cultivation astatine astir ₹80,000 per acre, with pesticide exertion unsocial accounting for much than fractional the expenditure.
On February 1, 2026, Mr. Nandagopal sold 5,940 kg of cabbage, earning ₹17,820. From this amount, helium incurred expenses of ₹1,782 towards commission, ₹2,400 for labour, and ₹13,500 for transportation. “After each deductions, the mandi proprietor transferred lone ₹140 to me,” helium said.
He explained that yields per acre alteration with the season, averaging 10 to 15 tonnes during summertime and reaching up to 25 tonnes successful winter. “However, citing excess proviso and anemic demand, farmers are often offered arsenic small arsenic ₹1 to ₹3 per kg,” helium said. With astir 22,000 plants grown per acre and crops raised connected a rotational basis, farmers accidental input costs proceed to emergence adjacent arsenic returns stay uncertain.
Farmers alleged that mandi operators and intermediaries marque profits passim the year, portion cultivators carnivore losses of 30% to 50% each season. Shifting to different crops specified arsenic maize oregon sugarcane has besides go progressively unviable owed to depleting groundwater levels, labour shortages, and harm caused by chaotic animals, said a husbandman from Doddagajanur. Cultivators walk adjacent to ₹45,000 per acre connected pesticide spraying, carried retired 9 times during the harvest cycle, importantly adding to accumulation costs.
S. Kannaiyan, president of the Thalavadi Farmers’ Association, told The Hindu that the increasing prevalence of bacterial diseases has compelled farmers to usage much pesticides. “There is an urgent request to bring down cultivation costs, and a dedicated rootlike probe presumption should beryllium established successful the elevation region,” helium said. He added that harvest diversification was the astir viable semipermanent solution and called for amendments to the Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1955, to let farmers to cultivate timber species.
