Arecanut market in Cachar

Nov. 23: A sharp dip in arecanut prices in both wholesale and retail markets has caused a slump in Cachar’s economy, where the tall slender nut trees had become another name for agricultural fortune.

An official in the district agriculture office said the price of 1kg of arecanut in the local markets of Silchar, the district headquarters town, has now plummeted to an unprecedented low of Rs 45 or Rs 50 per one “V” — a local lingo.

The “V” is a term for measuring a pile of arecanut pieces, which generally amounts to 400 nuts.

For the past several years, 400 arecanuts used to change hands in the market at a rate between Rs 80 and Rs 100.

Import of arecanuts from Indonesia is also one of the prime causes for the slide.

Besides, the district is producing more nuts than the market has space for.

Agriculture officer in Cachar, Subrata Bhattacharjee, said arecanut is grown in over 5,500 hectares, yielding nearly 12,650 tonnes a year.

But this year alone the output is expected to outstrip this figure by another 4,000 metric tonnes.

Add to that the Indonesian variety flooding the market.

The district’s primary retail sale centre at Kabuganj township, about 16km south of Silchar town, is now overflowing with arecanuts.

Hundreds of kiosks have sprouted along the roads to sell the nuts, a staple with betel leaf (paan).

The crash in prices has robbed farmers of sleep — most supplement their staple sali crops, harvested in winter, with arecanut.

They generally spend their money from the sale of arecanuts to clear debts accumulated at the beginning of the farming season in July.