Plummeting coconut prices leave farmers in dire straits

The price of coconuts that until recently cost anywhere between Rs. 25 and Rs. 33 in the wholesale markets has crashed to below Rs. 10 this season. It was a decade ago, in 2006, that coconut prices had fallen below Rs. 10.

With rates plummeting to Rs. 6,500 from Rs.18,000 per thousand coconuts in the wholesale market in Tumakuru, one of the major coconut growing areas in the state, farmers are in deep distress.

Farmer Marimuthu of Gollarahalli in Chikkanyakanahalli taluk told The Hindu that the situation was so dire that his son, who had completed SSLC, had to drop out of education. “He is working as an agricultural labourer,” he said. Many farmers are unable to get back even the amount invested in the farms over the past one year. Paramashivaiah of Dodda Agrahara in Sira taluk said: “I have stopped watering my 200 coconut trees as it is of no use.”

Add to the low prices, what is burdening the farmers more is the traditional practice of “sodi”, where farmers are forced to give 100 coconuts extra at the mandi for every 1000 coconuts, said B.S. Devaraj, state secretary of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS).

While farmers’ leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar blamed Union Government’s policy of allowing imports from Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines for the fall in prices, sources in the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) in the state denied that imported coconuts have flooded the state’s markets. However, they said that they were not in knowledge of imported coconuts in any other markets leading to a fall in demand for coconuts from the state.

Officials in APMC blame the fall in business from Tamil Nadu for the state’s coconuts as the main reason for the crash in prices. “Tamil Nadu segment usually buys up around 45 per cent of our coconut produce. But this year, since they have had a good yield and business from Tamil Nadu is almost nil, leading to huge surplus and crash in prices,” the official said.

S.H. Keshav, manager (marketing), Hopcoms, said that coconut prices are usually cyclical and was presently down due to fall in demand due to long period of high prices and a good yield this year.

Benefits yet to reach consumers

While farmers are struggling with their yield getting poor prices, consumers continue to pay high prices. A large-sized coconut in Bengaluru is around Rs 20. The prices have started falling in the Hopcoms. “The prices have also started coming down in the retail market and it is just a matter of time before the coconuts will be available at below Rs. 10 even in the retail market,” he said.

Bandh

Miffed at the government’s inaction and non-intervention over crashing prices of coconut and arecanut, the KRRS has now called for a bandh in eight districts that are coconut and arecanut growing areas in the state on June 27.

A senior official in APMC said that while the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for coconut announced by the union government was Rs. 1,600 per quintal, and it was being traded at Rs. 1,300 to Rs. 1,400 in the wholesale markets in the state. “We are collecting data from various APMCs and coconut mandis in the state and soon plan to submit data to the state government to take a call on whether to buy coconuts from the farmers at MSP,” he said.