Condemning the sudden crash in cocoon prices at the Government Cocoon Market yard in Ramanagaram town, hundreds of farmers staged a protest on Friday.
Chaos prevailed for a long time outside the market and vehicular movement on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway was also hit. The Ramanagaram market is considered the second-largest cocoon market in Asia and every day, hundreds of farmers bring at least 30 tonnes of their produce for sale.
According to the agitators, cocoon was selling for ₹300 to ₹600 a kg, based on quality, size and breed. However, the trading price had collapsed to the range of ₹150 to ₹200 a kg on Friday.
The protesting farmers blamed the “anti-farmer policies” of the Union government for the price crash.