Cabinet approves ₹422 per quintal hike in milling copra MSP, ball copra price by ₹100
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Friday approved hike in minimum support prices (MSPs) for copra for 2025 season by ₹100/quintal and ₹422/quintal depending on varieties from current season, which is estimated to have a financial implication of ₹855 crore.
The MSP for Fair Average Quality of ‘milling’ copra has been fixed at ₹11,582/quintal, up by 3.8 per cent from ₹11,160/quintal in 2024 and for ‘ball’ copra it will be ₹12,100/quintal, less than 1 per cent from the 2024 season.
Milling copra is used to extract oil, while ball/edible copra is consumed as a dry fruit and used for religious purposes. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are major producers of milling copra, whereas ball copra is produced predominantly in Karnataka.
Briefing media after the CCEA meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the approval is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and views of major coconut growing States. He further said the decision to hike the MSP would ensure a margin of minimum 50 per cent over the all-India weighted average costs of production (A2+Family Labour) of copra.
The announced MSP of copra is in line with the principle of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times all-India weighted average cost of production as announced by the government in 2018-19 Budget, Vaishnaw said.
In the last 10 years, the government has more than doubled the MSPs of milling copra and ball copra from ₹5,250 per quintal and ₹5,500 per quintal, respectively in 2014-15.
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) will continue to act as nodal agencies for the procurement of copra and de-husked coconut directly from farmers under Price Support Scheme (PSS) when market rates fall below MSPs.
In the current 2024 season, the government has procured 97,334.56 tonnes of copra, at over ₹1,143 crore, benefiting around 78,361 farmers. The procurement has dipped by 27.5 per cent from the 2023 season, the government said in a statement.
Copra output
According to Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), India’s copra production was estimated to be 5 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 oil year (November-October).
On the other hand, as businessline last month reported, rising coconut oil prices since Onam has brought cheer to the farming community after rates crossed the ₹200 mark. Copra prices too have moved up, reaching ₹138 in Tamil Nadu and ₹140 in Kerala now from about ₹90-95/kg before Onam, according to Thalath Mahmood, President of the Cochin Oil Merchants Association (COMA).
It was in 2017-18 and 2021-22 that coconut oil prices hit a high of ₹204 and ₹209, respectively, he said.
The Kerala copra market generally experiences a lean supply season during the second half of the year. There are also reports of farmers and traders holding stock in anticipation of a further price rise. Export of raw coconuts, diversion to other value-added products, and the high demand for tender coconuts has also affected copra supply.