The Hindu : Kerala News : Safeguard interests of coconut farmers, Government told

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Friday, Jun 30, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

Safeguard interests of coconut farmers, Government told

K. Venkiteswaran

Call for Governmental intervention to clear uncertainties in the sector

KOCHI: The newly elected Left Democratic Front Government should send out a clear and strong signal that should quell the various fears and uncertainties of helpless coconut farmers, N. Ananthan, former secretary of the Cochin Oil Merchants' Association and former chief executive officer of First Commodities Exchange of India has said.

Talking to The Hindu here on Thursday, Mr. Ananthan pointed out that the Government-industry-non governmental organisations (NGO) partnership had worked wonders in many parts of the country. Time has come to lead the development agenda in this sector so as to spur the economic growth. Problems faced by the coconut farmers are perplexing and critical.

He pointed out that in Kerala economic actions are guided by political action, as success of such economic action depends greatly on their political background.

Successive Governments in the State, often dictated by political caprice, formed a number of corporations on the pretext of safeguarding the interest of coconut farmers. They have even established huge copra crushing units without caring for its viability, Mr. Ananthan said.

For example, in 1975 the then Government formed the Kerala State Coconut Development Corporation (KSCDC) and established two copra crushing units, one at Mamam in Thiruvananthapuram district and the other at Thiruvangoor in Kozhikode district, with an installed capacity of crushing 100 tonnes of copra a day.

In 1987 the then Government formed the Kerala Kera Karshaka Sahakarana Federation (Kerafed) with aid from European Economic Community and the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) with a capital investment of Rs.200 crores. Kerafed established two more copra crushing units, one at Karunagapally in Kollam district with an installed capacity of crushing 200 tonnes of copra a day, and another unit at Naduvannur in Kozhikode district with 100 tonnes capacity a day. The Karunagapally unit started commercial production from 1993.

By 1993, the KSCDC units were defunct with an accumulated loss of around Rs.18 crores. (KSCDC is now under liquidation). It is reported that Kerafed has not utilised more than 25 per cent of its utilised capacity since then. What has happened to the KSCDC is an open secret and what will happen to Kerafed under the circumstances is any body's guess, Mr. Ananthan said.

Kerafed and the KSCDC are basically public sector units functioning under the veneer of cooperative structure, managed and financed by the Government. Government patronage often makes such units incompetent to survive in the market. Government dumped crores of rupees on the pretext of safeguarding the interests of coconut farmers. Kerafed is a cooperative venture of 900-odd primary agricultural marketing societies in the State. These units are a liability not only to coconut farmers but also to the State exchequer. It is also a disgrace to the cooperative movement, especially in Kerala.

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