NAMAKKAL: Incessant rains have pushed tapioca farmers to a corner as sago mills are not keen to procure fearing excess moisture content. Tapioca is cultivated on 50 hectares across Namakkal, Salem, Dharmapuri and Erode districts. Over 50 per cent of the crop is ready for harvest but because of incessant rains, neither labourers are available to harvest nor mill owners keen to procure.
Namakkal Cauvery Lift Irrigation Farmers Association's president K Balasubramani said, "Farmers in the region are dependent on Salem Sago Serve to sell tapioca. Having insisted on membership repeatedly, the mill is refusing to procure and farmers are forced to sell to private mills. Around 25 hectares of the crop is ready for harvest. We will get a good price for cassava if starch content is up to 28 points, but mill owners have reduced the price. If the rain continues, the crop is likely to be affected by pest and water stagnation."
P Saravanan, an organic farmer in Ariyagoundampatti, said, "Mealybugs and Red Spider Mites attack are new concerns for tapioca farmers over the last two years. Even though farmers managed to raise crops, the inundation of fields following the rain has caused extensive damage. The State government should intervene and instruct mills to procure tapioca without delay."
Further, he reiterated his demand to the State government to form a cooperative society for tapioca farmers like paddy procurement centre.
"The current market price of tapioca is Rs 6,500 a tonne which is very less compared to the previous price of Rs 8,000. We can be assured of decent returns if government procures from us directly," he said. Revenue officials said they could only request mills to procure on time and cannot force them.
Horticulture officials said forming a cooperative society for tapioca farmers was not possible due to lack of funds. "if farmers come forward to form a group by investing their own money, we are ready to support them, " an official said.
Supply of parasitoids delayed
To prevent the spread of Mealybug, the Bengaluru-based National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR) has imported parasitoid, a pest control from Benin, a West African country and multiplied at the research centre last year. Horticulture officials from Namakkal, Salem, Dharmapuri, Erode, Vilupuram, and Kallakurichi were invited by the NBAIR to attend the training programme. But, there was no improvement in the drive yet.