EVERY year, Vishwakeshava Kuruveri, a 39- year-old farmer, used to sell his freshly harvested cashew crop to some cashew-processing factories in Uppala. This year, too, at the beginning of the harvesting season, he sold 2.5 tonnes of cashew for Rs 110 per kg to the factories.
But, after some time, the cashew factories began to dither. “We have enough stock,” they told him. “We don’t want to buy any more cashew.”
Kuruveri realized this was a ruse. The cashew factories were a rapacious cartel.
“This is a regular ploy,&rdquo. . .
