Sleepless Nights for Coconut Farmers: Copra Prices Plummet from 14,500 to 7,000 per Quintal in 8 Months
Coconut farmers in Karnataka face sleepless nights as copra prices continue to decline, making it difficult to cover production costs. Check their plea for fair pricing and government support to alleviate their financial burdens
Alankriti Chauhan
Karnataka’s coconut farmers are having trouble sleeping due to the ongoing decline in the price of copra. They assert that the market’s current price is insufficient even to cover the cost of the inputs.
The cost of copra In November 2022 was around 14,500 per quintal. In December 2022, the price started to decline. The cost has been approximately 8,000 per quintal for the past six months. Growers report that as of July 10, the ball copra was selling for 17,000 in the Channarayapatna market in the Hassan area.
500 coconut trees are cared after by Ramachandra, a coconut farmer from Valagerahalli in the Channarayapatna taluk. Farmers should get at least $25,000 per quintal of copra given the expense of labor and production. However, neither the worth of human labor nor the value of land is ever considered. The current price is too low to cover our daily costs, let alone be able to pay back debts, he claimed.
In Karnataka, coconut is grown on more than 6.46 million hectares, and 2.18 lakh metric tonnes of ball copra are produced annually. The price drop was discussed throughout the legislative session as well. In addition to the MSP of 11,750 per quintal, MLAs who represent coconut-growing regions wanted financial incentives for producers.
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED), according to H.R. Naveen Kumar, Hassan district president of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), no longer purchases copra. “Copra is a year-round crop. Growers provide copra for sale all year round. The NAFED should copra, he continued. Procure
The State Government has suggested that a minimum support price of 16,730 per quintal be set to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices in August 2022. The Horticulture Department suggested this pricing. For the sake of the farmers, the State Government should set the price at 16,730 per quintal, he added.
In support of this demand, the Channarayapatna Coconut Growers’ Struggle Committee wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In addition, the committee wants the government to announce a special package for coconut farmers, fix the price of copra in accordance with the recommendations made in the Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Commission’s report, and take steps to prevent corruption in the procurement of copra through NAFED.
