Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2026: Tapioca and Sago Industry in Namakkal faces survival crisis

Ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, distress signals are emerging from the state’s tapioca and sago belt, with industry stakeholders warning of a deepening crisis in Namakkal district.

Once considered the backbone of rural livelihoods in Tamil Nadu, the sago industry in Namakkal is now under severe strain. Sago, produced primarily from tapioca — a starch extracted from the cassava plant — supports thousands of farmers, labourers and small-scale processors across the region.

Those involved in its production say the industry is facing a major survival crisis due to labour shortages, weak enforcement of cooperative by-laws, and poor quality control.

Several stakeholders are calling on the state government to bring all those linked to the sector under SAGOSERVE, the state-run cooperative body, to ensure better price realisation and stricter quality standards.

The distress is not limited to sago manufacturers. Farmers cultivating tapioca, the key raw material for sago, say escalating input costs and poor market returns are making cultivation increasingly unviable.

With the Assembly polls approaching later this year, both tapioca growers and sago producers are seeking urgent government intervention, including price stabilisation measures and stronger cooperative mechanisms, to prevent the collapse of a sector that has long sustained rural households in the region.