Now, a farm co-op shares a part of farmer’s work

Many arecanut growers, who are affected by the scarcity of labour, are finding it difficult to carry out activities related to cultivation. Post-harvest processing of arecanut is one of the major operations yet to be carried out at.

Considering the problems being faced by growers, a farm co-operative from Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka has come out with a service to reduce a portion of their problem. The Totagars’ Cooperative Sale Society (TSS) Ltd has now come forward to carry out post-harvest processing of arecanut for its members.

Ravish Hegde, General Manager of TSS Ltd, told BusinessLine that many farmers are giving their plantation to contractors who carry out the farm operations.

Usually private contractors charge around ₹3,000 a quintal for the post-harvesting processing of arecanut. However, TSS Ltd will offer this service at ₹1,700 a quintal, he said.

A farmer will incur an expense of around ₹2,200-2,300 a quintal if he wants to do it on his own. However, the availability of farm labour is a major issue, he said.

Growers will get a fixed amount of money when they give the crop to a contractor to carry out operations.

The cooperative’s initiative will help them retain their crop after processing, and sell it at the price they want. If needed, they will also get loans on their crops.

It may be noted here that Uttara Kannada district produces both red and white varieties of arecanut. Post-harvesting processing methods are different for both these varieties.

If a farmer wants the red variety of arecanut, he will have to provide tender arecanut to the cooperative after harvesting it. The cooperative will carry out all the operations related to the preparation of red variety on its end.

If a farmer wants white arecanut, he will have to provide the ripened arecanut to the cooperative after harvesting it. The cooperative will make the crop ready for sale after doing all processing activities related to it.