The state of Kerala used to be known as the land of coconut palm trees.
Now coconuts are brought from the state of Tamil Nadu as get coconut plantations do not thrive well in Kerala.!
The trees do not produce as many coconuts as before! The farmers find it difficult to protect the trees from various pests and diseases. The rubber plantation replaced the coconut farms about thirty years ago. Now the selling price of rubber has slipped so low that many farmers do not tap the rubber trees. The coconut prices have soared in the mean time. The cost of a tender coconut along the national high ways has touched Rs 40. The benefit of this does not go the farmers as they are forced to sell the tender coconut at Rs.15 to the middle men.
The farmer's woes are too many. They are in heavy debt and stress. The government is only waking up to these realities. The industry dominated economy did affect the dairy farmers in Europe; it is affecting the farmers in India heavily!
The rich industrialists who fetch farm products for their super markets bargain with the farmers to fetch high profit for themselves !
The voice of the farmer is feeble1 They are taken for granted! They are in a siege by an economy that is adverse towards them!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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