Coconut, copra prices likely to rule stable this season

Coconut and copra prices are likely to rule stable, according to the TN-IAM Project funded Price Forecasting Scheme of the Centre for Agricultural and Rural Development Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.

Farm-gate price of good quality coconut during December will be ₹10-12 per nut. Price of good quality copra will rule around ₹80 per kg. The price may subject to change based on the arrivals from other States and hence, farmers are advised to take selling decision accordingly.

The price forecasting team analysed past 15 years data from the Avalpondurai Regulated Market in Erode and Perundurai Cooperative Marketing Society to arrive at the price forecast.

Weather boost

Quoting trade sources, the press release from the DEMIC said favourable weather boosted coconut and copra production in various parts of Tamil Nadu. Arrivals from the neighbouring States of Kerala and Karnataka also have commenced since September. The cost of milling copra varies due to shift in the supply and demand of coconut oil. However, the price of coconut oil is also influenced by the availability of competitively-priced imported vegetable oils, much like the way other domestic edible oils are influenced.

Coconut is used in our country as a source of food, drink, fibre, fuel, etc. Indonesia, Philippines, India, Brazil, Sri Lanka and Thailand are the major producers of the nut.

According to First Advance Estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (2022-23), the area under coconut is 21.77 lakh hectares with a production of 135.18 lakh tonnes. Tamil Nadu stands at No 3 slot in terms of coconut production (35.11 lakh tonnes)  and first in productivity of 7.87 tonnes per hectare compared to Karnataka (5.91 tonnes per hectare) and Kerala (5.04 tonnes per hectare) during 2022-23.  In Tamil Nadu, the prominent regions for coconut cultivation encompass Coimbatore, Tirupur, Thanjavur, Dindigul, Kanyakumari, Vellore, and Theni districts.