Agency pepper farmers denied fair price despite market boom

Visakhapatnam: Despite rising black pepper prices in the Cochin market, tribal farmers in the agency areas of Andhra Pradesh cultivating pepper, that too organic, are facing significant challenges in securing fair compensation for their produce.

As on March 25, the India Pepper and Spice Trade Association (IPSTA)’s prices for garbled and ungarbled pepper had been ₹707 and ₹687 per kg, respectively. However, farmers in agency areas are being undercut by ₹100 or more, largely due to their dependence on private traders.

Rimala Nagaraju, a farmer from GK Veedhi mandal in Gudem Kotha Veedhi, grows pepper alongside coffee on four acres of land. He told Deccan Chronicle that his income per kilogram of pepper ranges between ₹500 and ₹600. Nagaraju suggested that if the Girijana Cooperative Corporation (GCC) markets pepper as it does coffee, tribal farmers could get much better prices.

Pangi Anji Rao, another farmer from Araku, shared his concern over absence of alternative marketing facilities. He explained that agency farmers are compelled to sell at rates determined by private traders, which are over ₹100 lower than Cochin market prices tied to international benchmarks.

In Paderu revenue division, where 98,000 acres of pepper plantations are located, tribal farmers rely on private traders, as GCC procures pepper in a limited manner. Many tribal farmers are unaware of pricing trends in the Cochin market. Private traders thus manage to procure pepper from tribal farmers by paying them prices that are 10–20 per cent below the market levels.

While the Central Coffee Board provides coffee price updates to farmers, similar support does not exist for pepper growers. Central and state governments must thus intervene urgently. Providing access to information and creating alternative marketing facilities could empower tribal farmers and address the longstanding inequities.