Barter system back again!

Brisk business in copra in exchange for sugar

January 25, 2019 12:50 am | Updated 12:50 am IST - KARIMNAGAR

A group of tribal youths staying at Budige Jangala colony on the outskirts of the town collect copra (dried coconut kernels) in exchange for an equal quantity of sugar. Every day morning, the streets of the town reverberate with the shouts of these barter traders.

As part of their business, they roam around the town and adjoining villages. Surprisingly, they are doing good business as people have accepted the age-old practice of barter system. All the 40-odd tribal youths who took up this system of trade were earning ₹400 to ₹500 a day, after meeting their petrol expenses as they travel on mopeds.

They hit upon the idea of barter trade exclusively for dried coconut kernels as there was good market for the commodity. “We collect copra and give to customers an equal quantity of sugar in exchange. Later, we take the copra to the oil mill in the Gunj locality in the town where it is processed into coconut oil and coconut powder. The traders pay us ₹Rs 60 to ₹90 per kg of dried coconut kernel, depending on quality,” said Shyam, who has been into this trade for the past two months.

Cyclone effect

A Mallamma, who sold her two kg of copra in Rampur locality, said she was happy to secure an equal quantity of sugar as the copra had remained unused for several months at her home.

A trader said coconut oil prices had shot up, following the cyclone in Tamil Nadu and Kerala where the coconut trees were uprooted. Presently, coconut oil costs ₹300 to ₹400 per litre, coconut powder ₹200 per kg and copra ₹170 per kg. He said coconut powder was used in making chutneys in eateries.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.