Agencies under the Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers' Welfare have intensified the drive to procure raw coconut (de-husked) across the State. About a thousand tonnes of coconuts have been procured so far this year. Around 2,400 farmers have benefited from the raw coconut procurement drive and they have been paid ₹2.27 crore on this account so far. The raw coconut is procured at ₹32 per kg and the farmers are directly sent the money to their bank accounts.
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Mostly in 3 districts
The Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK), which is one of the key agencies working to procure raw coconut from the market has procured 793 tonnes, mostly from Malappuram, Kozhikode and Palakkad districts. The council has 12 procurement and collection centres in Malappuram, nine centres in Kozhikode and 13 centres in Palakkad district, VFPCK sources said. The procurement drive has helped around 2,300 farmers. The coconut procurement drive was launched on June 7.
A senior official of the Kerala State Coconut Development Corporation said that procuring raw coconut was more helpful to the farmers because processing coconut during the monsoon season is difficult as there is a shortage of dryers. Unless the coconut is processed in time the farmers can sustain substantial losses, the official added. The corporation has procured around 155 tonnes of raw coconut since January this year.
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Plant at Attingal
The corporation has an integrated coconut processing plant at Attingal. There is also a facility at Elathur, near Kozhikode. The official said that the corporation had proposed expanding its procurement network with a view to help more farmers.
The corporation was formed in 1975 with a view to streamline marketing of coconut and coconut products. The corporation manufactures coconut oil, virgin coconut oil, desiccated coconut powder and coconut chips, among other products.
Market intervention
Chairman of KERAFED V. Chamunni said that coconut procured was mostly sent for processing to the coconut farmers' apex co-operative federation. The federation has two expeller oil extraction factories - at Karunagappally, in Kollam district and at Naduvannur in Kozhikode district, he said. He said that the market intervention had been made in districts, mostly in the Malabar area, where the price of coconut has been low with a view to supporting the farmers.
Kerala has a total of around 7.60 lakh hectares under coconut cultivation and the State produces 7,415 million nuts a year according to estimates for 2020-2021. Most of the coconut production takes place in small land holdings owned by individual households. The total area under coconut cultivation in the country is more than two million hectares and the total nut production is 21,129 million.