Kochi: Crash of cardamom prices has put the growers in Kerala in dire straits, Kerala Congress working chairman P C Thomas has said. The situation is really disturbing and the central and the state governments should come to the aid of the farmers before the situation goes out of control, the former Union Minister said in a statement.
The governments should intervene urgently to prevent tax authorities and banks from torturing the farmers who are struggling to earn their livelihood, he said.
The government should fix the benchmark price of cardamom at Rs 2,500 to help the farmers facing a number of problems like Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, fertilizers, pesticides expenses, and high labour wages.
The government should waive interest on loans taken during the pandemic period, he demanded.
