In a bid to stop falling prices of copra or dry coconuts, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (Nafed) would commence the procurement from Kerala after the general elections are over.
According to a senior Nafed official, the federation will immediately commence the copra procurement after the general elections scheduled for April 16, 2009. With the prices of copra crushing drastically due to peak season in Kerala & Tamil Nadu, the procurement drive by Nafed is expected to bring in huge relief to farmers.
An official with coconut development board (CDB) said that the market prices of fair average quality (FAQ) of copra at present is around Rs 3,600 per quintal while the minimum support price announced by the government is Rs 4,450 per quintal. ?MSP announced by the government recently is around 15% more than market price of Copra,? the CDB official told FE. The union cabinet in February 2009 had approved a MSP for FAQ of milling copra at Rs 4,450 per quintal and for ball copra at Rs 4,700 per quintal. Last year, the government had fixed the MSP for FAQ of milling copra at Rs 3,660 per quintal and for FAQ of ball copra at Rs 3,910 per quintal. Nafed is expected to procure milling copra at Rs 44.50 and ball copra at Rs 47 a kg in Kerala through Kerala Kerakarshaka Sahakarna Federation Ltd (Kerafed) and Kerala State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (Marketfed) and through Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (Tanfed) in Tamil Nadu.
?We are ready to commence procurement by next week,? UKS Chauhan,MD, Nafed said.
The farmers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been waiting for the Nafed to rescue them as due to peak season the prices have been continuously witnessing downward trend. ?A large number of farmers have stocked their produce hoping for an attractive support price,? CDB official said.
Nafed is expected to help avert further decline in prices. ?The copra would be sold when prices stabilize,? a Nafed official said. During 2007, Nafed had procured around 43,000 tonne of copra in South India. Karnataka, with 19,000 tonne, was the biggest contributor to procurement drive. According to CDB estimates, the copra production in the country is expected to be around 7.2 tonne in the current year out of which Kerala would be contributing 50% of production while rest would come from Tamil Nadu (25%), Andhra Pradesh (10%) and others.