K. Shanmuga Sundaram, MP, has urged the Centre to ban the import of coconut oil until the market price of copra increases.
In a petition to the Secretary, Department of Farmers’ Welfare, Manoj Ahuja, the MP said the government’s move to levy zero duty on edible oils has hit farmers as demand for indigenously-produced coconut oil decreased owing to the imported oils.
Tamil Nadu has around 4.65 lakh hectare of coconut cultivable that rendered an output of 3,751 tonne in 2021, he said in the petition.
He said, “The prices of coconut and copra have seen a sharp 50% decline compared to 2021. At the market, a single coconut was priced at ₹16 and copra was ₹150 a kg. in 2021. This year the same has reduced to ₹8 and ₹80 respectively. The costs of fertilizers, urea and potash and labour costs have risen by more than 50% since 2021, which has adversely affected the farmers.”
Further, the sudden uptick in whitefly attacks and Root Wilt Disease (RWD) recently also cut production, the MP said.
He said that since there are no government schemes or subsidies for the cultivation of coconuts, production has drastically decreased by 50% in the last year.
