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Regulated markets for coconuts favoured

Special Correspondent

They help farmers to realise competitive prices for their produce

KOCHI: Chairperson of the Kochi-based Coconut Board Minnie Mathew favours the creation of regulated markets for coconuts for the progress of the sector.

Writing in the official journal of the board here, the chairperson pointed out that unlike the neighbouring States, Kerala do not have any assembling markets for coconut where physical transactions in bulk quantities were carried out. Assembling markets or regulated markets helped farmers to realise competitive prices for their produce. However, unlike other commodities, there were very few regulated markets for coconuts in this country. For a healthy and vibrant processing sector there should be a ready and steady source of supply of coconuts in required quantities.

She said that several prospective entrepreneurs who would like to start processing units feel discouraged as there was no assured source of regular supply of substantial quantities of coconut which is necessary for running a processing unit on an uninterrupted basis. Kerala, in spite of being the major coconut growing State, did not boast of an assembling market. In Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh there were regulated markets where coconuts were traded. Karnataka stood apart from other States, as there was a regulated market for tender coconut also, said Ms. Mathew.

Since the price of coconut oil in Kochi market determined the price of coconut oil in other markets, there was a need for farmer-controlled markets in Kerala. But given the highly dispersed and scattered nature of coconut cultivation as well as the small operational size of holdings and the small quantities available as surplus, direct marketing was a tremendous challenge for coconut farmers.

Therefore, coconut farmers generally sell their produce to the local merchant or middlemen. In this system the farmers often had to give trade allowances to the purchaser at the time of disposal of coconut.

Moreover, there was no proper system of grading of coconut and hence the farmers cannot take advantage of the quality of nuts.

Of late, a few cooperative societies, which had established big copra drying units, were procuring coconuts locally based on weight basis. But such procurement was at a very negligible level and cannot influence the price in any significant manner. Cooperative societies and farmers' associations should, therefore, consider establishing assembling markets for coconut in strategic locations. The assembling markets could also handle tender coconuts so that the demand created for tender coconut could be sustained by easy availability.

By-products such as shell and husk which were required in bulk quantity for commercial utilisation could also be handled by the assembling markets.

This would facilitate the establishment of the units in the locality for manufacturing coir products.

, coconut shell powder, coconut shell charcoal and shell-based activated carbon in addition to kernel-based products.

The board could extend financial support as per approved norms for creation of physical infrastructure like assembling yards, platform balances and other attendant requirements, said Ms. Mathew.

Many areas were traditionally famous for quality coconut and copra. The assembling markets could also take advantage of the geographical reputation of the produce by registering for Geographical Indications (GI), said Ms. Minnie Mathew.

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