With prices of coconut oil touching the rock-bottom levels in the face of large-scale import of palmolein, people have resorted to direct action. At least half a dozen rural panchayats in Kozhikode district have declared themselves palmolein-free in an attempt to check the falling trend in coconut oil prices. An organised campaign has also been started in two other northern districts, Kannur and Kasargod, under the auspices of North Malabar Oil Millers Association.

Availability of palmolein at a cheaper price as compared with coconut oil has resulted a clear shift towards the use of the former among low-income families, restaurants, canteens and bakeries. Currently, the respective prices of palm oil and coconut oil range between Rs 22 and Rs 32. "Unlike other states, Kerala uses coconut oil for cooking and therefore, the impact of palmolein import will be severe in the state," said Mr VT Markose, chief coconut development officer at the Coconut Development Board.

The anti-palmolein agitation took a violent turn on Tuesday when a group of people representing the Kerala State Farmers Relief Forum and CPI-ML (Red Flag), seized about 250 cans, containing 15 kg of palmolein each, from a godown in the city and spilt palm oil on to the road.

While there is a wide spread resentment among the traders against such violent protests, many market observers see this as a sign of public awareness towards the problems posed by palmolein imports. "The government is constrained to impose too many restrictions on palmolein imports simply because it is not possible under the WTO obligations," Mr Markose said. It is expected that the movement against the imported palmolein is likely to spread to the southern parts of Kerala too.

However, the traders who are concerned over the similar violent protests felt that there was no rationale behind the argument that palmolein import has resulted in fall in prices of coconut and coconut oil. Quoting the Directorate of Economics and Statistics figures, they said the country has been meeting over 45 per cent of the edible oil needs through imports. Kerala's palmolein imports during 1998-99 alone was 1.18 lakh tonne. Even if the import of palmolein is withdrawn, the country will have to import other edible oils like sunflower oil that is costlier than palmolein, they added.

The last two year's price trends show that while palmolein is sensitive to the international market movements, coconut oil is sensitive to the Indian markets. For instance, palmolein price in the Kochi market in the middle of 1998 was Rs 40 per kg and coconut oil was Rs 39. During the first week of October this year, the prices have come down to Rs 20 and Rs 31 respectively.