Palakkad, Kerala: Coconut farmers in the state are facing a setback as the market price of raw copra has fallen below the support price. On Tuesday, prices ranged between ₹105 and ₹120 per kilogram. With copra prices dropping below the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd’s (NAFED) procurement rate of ₹120.27 per kg, farmers are deeply concerned. Earlier, prices had gone up to ₹294 per kg. The sharp decline is attributed to increased production in Tamil Nadu as well as Kerala.

With procurement agencies such as NAFED and KERAFED yet to actively intervene in the market, farmers fear that copra prices could decline further in the coming weeks. In response, farmers have demanded that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for copra be raised to ₹130 per kilogram. They have also urged NAFED to immediately commence copra procurement operations to stabilise market prices.

Well-dried copra is priced at around ₹126, while sulphur-free copra fetches about ₹130. However, the ongoing monsoon season is making it difficult for farmers to properly dry the produce.

Concerns among coconut growers have also intensified due to the limited intervention from KERAFED, which depends on NAFED and agricultural cooperative societies for procurement.

Meanwhile, KERAFED officials said they are closely tracking market trends and added that government approval is required before initiating copra procurement.

Meanwhile, in districts such as Palakkad and Kozhikode, coconuts sales have dropped due to the reduction of copra’s market value. At present, apart from a few small-scale oil-producing units, there are no major buyers actively participating in the local copra market. Though a kilogram of coconut costs around ₹40, farmers say they cannot sustain their livelihoods by depending entirely on coconut sales alone.