Thiruvananthapuram: It's cheaper to smoke than to chew a pan. A pan-pack comprising the betel leaf, lime and an arecanut piece has come to cost Rs 2.50 in Kerala, while a single cigaratte costs only Rs 1.50 at the retail level. The historic price high in arecanuts, that has hit the common man's pan-chewing fancy in Kerala, is likely to leave its mark on the pan prices in other parts of the country soon. Just a month ago, pan was sold at Rs 1.50 per pack. The swiftness with which pan price went northward is unprecedented, traders told The Financial Express.
The average wholesale price of arecanut is Rs 3 per nut. In Nedumangad and Thodupuzha markets, the arecanut price has spurted to Rs 3.50 per nut. At the retail level, pan shops in Thiruvananthapuram even sell arecanut at the rate of Rs 4 per nut.
Meanwhile, the arecenut-effect on the pan prices has come as a godsent to the cigerette market in Kerala, sore after the Kerala High Court's ban on smoking in public places last week. The High Courtverdict on a public interest petition is effective from the next month, ie Agust 1999.
Farmers, however, are not thrilled by the arecanut prices, because of the poor harvest following the yellow leaf disease.
The demand for arecanut has become high in South Kerala and Tamil Nadu this year, while the production from North Kerala and Karnataka -- the traditional arecanut belt of the country -- did not rise upto the expectations, trade sources said. The only time when arecanut prices showed a healthy trend was in early eighties, said a trader. In great draught of 1983 had brought a scanty crop. But even then, the price per nut was onlyRs 2. It is the first time that the prices have climbed to Rs 3 per nut, the state traders have said.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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