Relief package for pineapple growers: Kerala HC orders action within a month

KOCHI: Further to the interim order issued by the Kerala high court in August 2020 in a petition filed by the All Kerala Pineapple Farmers Association, justice P V Asha of the HC has ordered all the respondents in the petition, including the government of India, Reserve Bank, Productivity Council of India, government of Kerala and Indian Banks' Association to consider their grievance in the representation submitted to them earlier and pass appropriate orders within a period of one month.
The representation had sought a comprehensive relief package for the Covid-battered pineapple farming sector, to write off the loans of creditors who have been repaying the loans regularly till 2018, grant interest-free loans for future farming till things are improved, announce a minimum support price of Rs.25 for pineapple and immediately revive the manufacturing units to produce various value-added products using pineapple.
James George, All Kerala Pineapple Farmers Association, said currently, the exposure of loans in the region amounts up to Rs 450 crore and not a single farmer could service his credit in the near future. "Considering the situation, we urge both the central and state governments to initiate quick and appropriate action including governments to initiate action to write off loans of creditors with good track record, restructure remaining loans, streamline corporate CSR funds to support the sector, issue a minimum support price of Rs.25 per kg and revival of industrial units on war-footing for the various value additions of the fruit," he said.
James George added around 5.4 lakh tonnes of the fruit are produced in Kerala every year from nearly 18,000 hectares of land under pineapple cultivation. For the last 8 to 10 years, the average turnover out of this sector was Rs.1250 crore per year. More than 5000 farmers are there in the sector whose cost of production would be around Rs.6.25 lakh per hectare. Of these 18,000 hectares, a major share would be of leased lands and farmers heavily depend on banks and other institutional loans for farming. However, pineapple farming was severely affected lately and things were worsening since the 2018 floods.
Floods reoccurred in 2019 and in 2020, it was the turn of Covid-19. Due to the pandemic, pineapple prices were nosedived way below the production cost to around Rs.2.5 to Rs.5 per kg, while the cost of production was around Rs.23-24 per kg.