Kerala - Palakkad   

Copra procurement drive fails to deliver

PALAKKAD: Farmers and cooperative societies in Palakkad feel that the Central scheme for the procurement of copra and de-husked coconut through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (Nafed) has failed to deliver in the district.

The data show that the procuring agencies have not procured even a small percentage of the production. The procurement of copra was only 3,435.82 quintals, from 478 farmers, till April 10, 2010. In the case of de-husked coconut, only 10,384.09 quintals from 686 farmers was procured.

Copra procurement has been done by only eight of the 97 cooperative societies concerned. De-husked coconut has been procured by only 32 primary cooperative societies.

Perumatty cooperative society president K. Krishnankutty says that his society is procuring both copra and de-husked coconut.

But Kerala State Cooperative Consumer Federation Ltd. (Consumerfed), the nodal agency for procurement, is not buying the copra and coconut procured by the societies as they have no money to pay. The District Cooperative Bank has declined a loan request from Consumerfed and the government seems not in favour of standing guarantee to the agency's loan request.

Mr. Krishnankutty says that in Perumatty grama panchayat, over five lakh coconuts are getting damaged for want of buyers. In 2007-08, coconut was cultivated in 60,393 hectares in the district, yielding 422 million nuts. Palakkad is a major coconut producing district in the State.

The Deesheeya Karshaka Samajam alleges that the procurement drive has failed to help the farmer get a reasonable price for the product. Its general secretary Muthalamthode Mani says that under Nafed's de-husked coconut procurement scheme, all cooperative societies in the State have been asked to procure raw coconut from farmers.

But only a few are engaged in the drive.

The price fixed for a kg of de-husked coconut with water is Rs.12 and without water at Rs.14, which is much higher that the market price, he says.

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