Thenmala: Coconut farmers in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi district are enjoying a long-awaited boom as coconut prices have surged dramatically. Until just two years ago, even those with vast coconut groves had to rely on intercropping to survive falling prices.

Today, farmers in Sambavarvadakarai in Tamil Nadu say the crop is bringing in profits like never before. “We’re now getting up to ₹58 per kilo, compared to just ₹20–25 earlier,” says Kandaswamy, a local farmer who owns 3,000 coconut trees and harvests around 8,000 coconuts every three months.

Traders purchase coconuts in two ways--either by paying ₹20 per nut or by weight, offering ₹53–58 per kilo. While native coconut trees produce a lower yield compared to hybrids, they are productive for 40-45 years.

In contrast, hybrid trees offer good returns for only about ten years. The labour costs have also risen, with coconut pluckers earning up to ₹900 a day. De-husking a coconut costs around 80 paise, and those who carry coconuts to the collection centres are typically paid ₹300 and given 20 coconuts. Karuppaswamy, another farmer with 400 trees, says wholesalers now come directly to farms to negotiate prices.

Coconuts from this region are transported to various parts of Kerala and to oil mills across Tamil Nadu. Farmers say that consistent watering and fertilising twice a year leads to good yields, and that recent rainfall has further boosted their harvest. After years of hardship, many farmers feel that this price surge has finally brought them the returns they deserve.