In order to help the coconut farmers get a better price for tender coconut, the State Government had opened a coconut trade centre at Rs. 3.25 crore in Pollachi, Agriculture Minister S. Damodaran has said.
Speaking at the inauguration of the complex in Thippampatti, near Pollachi, the Minister said that though there was an increasing demand for tender coconuts, the farmers were getting less as the traders who bought the tender coconut at Rs. 5 to Rs. 10 at the farms, sold the same to consumers at Rs. 20 to Rs. 25.
It was with the aim of increasing the selling price for farmers that the State Government had constructed the complex. The complex had a transaction hall where the farmers could conduct the business or store coconuts. There were shops for traders, an office, a shop to sell farm implements and much more.
The wholesale traders would also stand to benefit as they could buy tender coconuts in large quantity from a number of small and medium farmers at a place. He was saying so because there was a great demand for tender coconuts from Pollachi in Karnataka.
To further help the farmers the State Government had planned to construct a cold storage facility in the area. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had laid the foundation stone for the project a few days ago and the construction would begin soon.
Of the four Southern States, Tamil Nadu played an important role in coconut cultivation with crops on over 3.09 lakh hectares. The State produced 5,365 million coconuts a year. It was also the first state that produced more coconuts a hectare, the Minister said and put the number at 13,777.
Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly V. Jayaraman, Members of the Legislative Assembly and senior officers participated in the function.
