Fall in coconut prices; Kerala farmers in crisis

The Kerala Coconut farmers are facing hard times due to the failure of the govt in not taking any steps to check the steep fall in prices of coconuts. Hit hard are the small time farmers who depend on this for their living. The coconut farmers are in dire straits due to the low price offered for copra procurement and raw coconut procurement. Monday's price for a quintal of coconut oil is Rs 6250 and for copra Rs 4100. The pest attack and increase in cost of fertilisers have added to their woes.

The fall in prices which was first seen in January is still continuing. A kilogram of coconut is priced Rs 10.50 to Rs 11 in the open market and 4 to 5 coconuts make a kg. It works out to Rs 4 per coconut. Considering all this, farmers get only 50 to 90 paise. Coconut climbers demand Rs 15 to Rs 25 for climbing a coconut palm. The price includes cleaning the coconuts and transporting it to the markets. The coconut farmers are continuing in this sector incurring a heavy loss due to increase in price in fertilisers and labour charges. There is huge increase in the price of Factamfos and potash fertilisers.

Though the state govt is procuring copra coconuts at the rate of Rs 5100 a quintal, it has not helped the farmers. Till August over 10,000 tonnes of coconut have been procured. With 280 co-operative societies being given charge for procuring coconuts, there are only a few which are actually functioning. And the govt had not interfered in this at all. The present crisis can be overcome to a certain extent only if a subsidy is given for raw coconuts, according to Kerafed chairman Manayath Chandran. The farmers' unions feel that various measures like approving neera manufacturing, extending support to all value-added items of coconut can only sustain coconut farming.

The State Government has entrusted the task of procuring copra from Kerafed and Marketfed. Kerafed has procured 6000 tonnes of coconut till last month and Marketfed 3800 tonnes. Kerafed is also thinking of procuring coconuts from all blocks and also install dryers.

With even Karnataka govt taking steps to strengthen the procurement process, Kerala is turning its back on this. Karnataka is procuring coconuts giving a higher subsidy of Rs 700 more for a quintal. The moment coconut reaches the procurement centres in Karnataka, the money would be disbursed to the farmers. Farmers' societies also point out that Karnataka govt is supporting coconut farming and neera manufacturing too. The import of palmoil has contributed to the fall in coconut oil prices. The sector has been affected with poor quality coconut oil being got from Tamil Nadu and distributed in Kerala. The coconut oil from TN is mixed with Palm kernel oil and distributed here at low rates. It is learnt that 300 to 350 loads of coconut oil is coming here.
This poor quality oil is used by hotels. The govt is not taking any steps to stop the fall in prices leading to the farmers abandoning coconut farming in many parts.

According to the statistics of the Coconut Development Board, 1,55,310 hectares of coconut farming has been left unattended during the last 10 years in Kerala. And this has resulted in 24.9 crore shortage of coconuts.