Kumireddy Veerabhadra Rao, whose family owns five acres, is at his wits’ end on how to eke out a living, as demand for betel leaf (tamalapaku) has plummeted due to the lockdown clamped to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Veerabhadra Rao is staring at an uncertain future, having invested on an average ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh per acre to grow betel leaf, with no promise of returns. The heart-shaped green colour leaves are much in demand for consumption as ‘paan’ as the marriage season begins in March-April.
The cash crop is grown in an area of 100 acres in Dharmavaram Agrahavaram, Penugolu and Vomavaram in S. Rayavaram mandal and in 150 acres in Aritakota, Mangavaram, Maasahebpeta in Payakaraopeta mandal in Visakhapatnam district. They get double their investment as their profit every year as during the marriage season they get bulk orders from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
Betel, also known as paan, is quite popular in north India for chewing. It is believed that the leaf is good for digestion, prevents carcinogenesis in oral cavity and helps in overcoming constipation.
Mr. Veerabhadra Rao said the crop needs a lot of care right from the planting of stems till the harvesting stage. “It grows very fast and needs manure, fertilizer and watering regularly,” he said pointing out that now due to heavy losses incurred by them, they do not know how to cope up with the situation amid fears that the pandemic would continue to grip for a long time.
Another progressive farmer, Velaga Nageswara Rao, who grows betel leaf in two acres at Penugolu has destroyed the crop as the leaves started decaying for delay in cutting. “We have neither workers nor any vehicle to transport. There is no demand at all to procure the crop from us this year,” he bemoaned.
Compensation sought
About 500 farmers, small and marginal and an estimated 1500 workers depend on it in the two mandals. “They are in severe distress and the government should come forward to pay compensation to the farmers and farm labour in lieu of losses suffered during the current season,” CITU State Secretariat member M. Appalaraju said.
