The All Kerala Pineapple Farmers’ Association has called for urgent action after a pineapple farmer committed suicide on Friday to escape mounting debts.
The Central and State governments must intervene before things go out of hand, the Association appealed on Saturday. It said that the pineapple sector, badly bruised by the COVID-19 pandemic, had a loan burden of about ₹450 crore.
The farmers’ demand is that the government help write off the debts of farmers with good track records, restructure debt repayment, help out with CSR funds and come out with a declaration on the minimum support price of ₹25 per kilogram of pineapple.
Anil K. K., 45, of Ayavana village, near Vazhakulam, about 40 kms from Kochi, was in engaged in leasing out land and cultivating pineapple for about three decades. But the spread of COVID-19 brought a lockdown in business and his liabilities, like thousands of other farmers like him, mounted rapidly.
It was said that he had a liability of about ₹50 lakh. He killed himself on Friday, bringing a pall of gloom over the entire pineapple farming sector.
Speaking on the crisis, James George, President of the Association said that the Vazhakulam region, known for its GI-tagged pineapple, could see more deaths unless both the Central and state governments stepped in to help.
Around 5.4 lakh tonnes of the fruit is produced yearly in Kerala from nearly 18,000 hectares. There are around 5,000 farmers and the average turnover is ₹1,250 crore annually.
(Suicide prevention helpline – DISHA: 1056, 0471-2552056)
