When K. Baiju, 30, a marginal farmer at Karapuzha, planted ginger on two acres of rented land at Ambalavayal in Wayanad around a year ago, he only intended to repay the loans he had taken for the cultivation .
Usually, ginger farmers begin harvest by the end of May as they get a better price for the produce at the advent of monsoon. But the farmer was forced to harvest the crop two days ago owing to financial stress and the cultivation was again a huge loss.
Low farm-gate price was the villain this time. “I got ₹850 for a bag (60 kg) of ginger as against ₹2,300 a bag during the period last year,” says Baiju. He spent about ₹8 lakh on cultivation but could not recoup even a fraction after the harvest.
