News
Carrot farmers floored by chaotic price drops
View(s):Pix and Text by Shelton Hettiaarachchi
Carrot cultivators in Nuwara Eliya are facing a crisis after going for mass-scale cultivation this season prompted by the high prices of last season.
Encouraged to mass-cultivate by the last season when a kilogramme was sold at Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500, the farmers now find they are not getting a suitable price.
The purchase price this season has dropped to Rs 50 per kilogramme and most farmers have not been able obtain a reasonable price compared to the expenses incurred. Over the week, carrot was sold as low as Rs 150 per kilogramme in colombo.
A farmer from Mahagastota, Dayananda Perera, said that as he was able to find a reasonable price the crops were not harvested.
“The farmers were affected because there was no proper advice from agricultural officials. They never visit these areas. We are forced to get advice from representaitves of agro-chemical companies”, he said.
He said that labour costs also are high and they have to pay a worker Rs 3,000 daily.
Another cultivator from Seetha Eliya Dhammika Rajapaksa opined that it is important to keep the farmers educated about the use of chemicals and fertilizer as they lack this knowledge.
Sanath Wijesinghe from Sandatenna said that he used hybrid seed spending Rs 100,000 on 600 grammes while the expenses on labour, chemicals and fertilizer too were very high.
He said that though he invested more than Rs 250,000, he suffered a heavy loss as the prices dropped to Rs 60 per kilogramme.
Mohan Pinnaduwa from Agarapathana said there should be a mechanism for the cultivators to get a reasonable price for their produce. He said that farmers lack knowledge on cultivating the right crop at the right time and are driven to seek advice from agro-chemical companies or their representatives.
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