Mumbai: Like almost every other industry, betel leaf farmers in Palghar are also facing huge losses due to lockdown. At least 400 farmers and around 2,500 labourers working on these farms have requested aid from the government against this loss.
Betel vine or 'Pan' is a perennial aromatic creeper grown for its leaves. Kelva and Mahim are two villages well known across the country for a special variety of this leaf which is produced twelve months a year.
“We have been paying wages to our workers despite not getting any income from last one month. During winter, each leaf is sold for around Rs.1.50 and during summer, each leaf is sold for 50 to 75 paise in retail. During winter, the farmers from both the villages sold around 22 to 25 lakhs of leaves every alternate day.
And in summer, we sell at least 3 crore leaves every month but due to lockdown we have suffered at least Rs. 60 to 70 lakh loss. We want a compensation for all our farmers from the state government,” Pradeep Patil, Director of ‘Kelva Pan Utpadak, Vikreta Sangh’, a farmer produce company, told FPJ.
“Generally, we pack leaves in the special boxes as per the order received from UP, Rajasthan and Gujrat. We send this to Mumbai Central Railway station and from there these parcels are sent to respective destination.
Though there is no ban on agriculture produce transport, the local police don’t allow us to transport these leaves to our godowns where we collect and then pack the leaves according to the orders,” farmer Vikas Patil said.
Uttar Pradesh biggest consumer
“We all are traditional farmers cultivating this crop from generations. More than 70 per cent of our produce is bought from Uttar Pradesh and rest of the leaves are sold in Saurashtra region of Gujrat and Rajasthan,” added Pradip Patil. “We once sent the leaves in a truck to UP, but as the Uttar Pradesh government has banned sale of “Pan”, we suffered loss.
Now we have to throw or gave away these leaves to villagers. In Summer days, this crop grows one centimetre per day, so we have to cut this crop before it reaches a certain height,” Patil informed.
“Even in the past till the trade was not banned with Pakistan, we used to send these leaves to Pakistan. When Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Pakistan, he was requested to send KelvaMahim leaves by Pakistani,” Vikas Patil said.
