Farmers from Chengappalli have appealed to the authorities to set up a copra procurement centre at the place and also to increase the procurement price of copra.
They have also urged the authorities to expedite the trial of the case on the alleged irregularities in the disbursal of pledge loans issued by a cooperative-sector credit institution at Chengapalli so that the aggrieved farmers get back at the earliest the jewels pledged to obtain credit. S. Chinnasamy, district president of Tamil Nadu Vyavasaigal Sangam, said the copra prices need to be hiked from the present Rs. 59 a kg to at least Rs 140 a kg. considering the steep escalation in the cost of production at the farmers’ level in the recent years. “Labour charges have gone up so as the cultivation/maintenance costs of a coconut farm”, he added.
The farmers asked for a copra procurement centre at Chengapalli as the nearest centres at the moment were located far at Avinashi and Kangayam. Another demand they put forward was the need to have a blanket waiver of all agricultural loans taken from the cooperative credit institutions instead of putting a ceiling that farmers having only less than five acres were eligible for the waiver.
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