Soon after the completion of drying and manual grading process, tendered nuts are ready for marketing. They are packed in gunny and plastic bags and the top end mouth of the bags are stitched or tied with rope. No special packing and branding is used when the crop is ready for sale in the primary market.
As regards processed areca nut, after the packing process, storage becomes an inevitable marketing function. Both varieties of nuts are stored in single or double plastic or gunny bags and kept in dry rooms in anticipation of high rates. The nuts can be protected from insects by sulfur fumigation or by using aluminum phosphate tablets. T.S.S. and T.A.P.C.M.S. provide storage facilities to farmers.
The long chain of intermediaries and ignorance of the growers are the main causes of issues. The growers in the study area did not know commercial grading. Moreover, they feel it is not necessary to grade commercially when the quantity sold is in small volumes. Producers sell areca nut by doing traditional grading in the primary market.
In the 1990s, a new system called "crop contracting" emerged. 'Crop Contractors' or 'Palaguttigedar' meet farmers and negotiate the selling rate of crop before harvesting. If the deal is finalized, they take the crop after effecting payment and undertake processing work, then sell it in the open market. On one side, it puts farmers lazy and causes loss; on the other, it is a stumbling blow to the co-operative movement in the District since the majority of crop contractors sell directly to the ultimate consumers without bill.
Another major problem of areca market in the District is the practice of second sales. Private traders attract farmers by offering slightly more than the prevailing market price. In the process, by violating norms and practices of marketing, traders save Rs. 600–800 per quintal of areca on average. Enchantment of corrupt practices of traders, greediness of farmers, support extended by transport operators and helpless situations of APMCs are practically responsible for this phenomenon.
Areca is the main ingredient for gutkha and pan masala. Issues relating to gutkha banning at times create incredible problems on the growers' front. There is a national level lobby to curb the consumption of gutkha by banning it. Areca farmers agree that gutkha consumption is bad for health, but their argument is that areca consumption itself is not bad for health, since people have been consuming it from the vedic period. Gutkha is considered harmful as areca is associated with tobacco and other chemicals.
Growers deposit their produce through the following channels:
Areca marketing requires different types of labors — skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled, female, male, seasonal and regular. Problems of availability of such labors as and when required cause certain problems. Timely harvesting calls for areca tree climbers to do their job in time. The delayed harvest results in changes in the percentage of red and white variety. Labor for these works is not available in sufficient numbers in time, and the wages demanded by them are equal to that of a software employee nowadays.