Bengaluru: There has been a sharp drop in Coconut production this summer, and tender coconuts, which is life spring to a thirsty commuter, and an elixir for the sick, has almost run out of the vendors carts, and with this the prices are expected to rise dramatically.
The price of tender coconuts, sold at Rs 25 a piece in Bengaluru now, is expected to rise further by June, when the summer sets in the northern parts of the country and may even touch Rs. 50. A few years ago it was Rs. 15.
“Even Rs 50 a nut is not ruled out,” an official of the Karnataka State Coconut development Board said. The coconut production is expected to decline with the prediction of a below-normal monsoon this year.
According to a recent survey by the Coconut Development Board (CDB), the production in the state has dropped by about 15% in 2013-14. This is further expected to fall by 30% in 2014-15. Uneven distribution of rainfall, pests, diseases, fluctuations in coconut prices and cheap imports of palm oil have cast a shadow on coconut farming leading to dwindling harvests in the state, says the study conducted once in three years.
G B Mallikarjuna, associate professor, University of Agriculture sciences, Tumakuru, who was part of the study, has told the TOI, “the bigger worry is that farmers are increasingly replacing coconut with arecanut as the latter has proved to more lucrative. This trend is widespread in Tumakuru which is the largest coconut producing district followed by Chitradurga and Hassan”.
T B Basavaraj, associate professor, University of Horticulture Sciences, Bagalkot, said fragmentation of palm groves through inheritance and conversion for sites and commercial ventures also contributed to the shrinkage of area under cultivation over the years.
Successive droughts have also had a major impact on the productivity of trees. Besides, experts say the state government is also to blame for its blatant neglect resulting in massive coconut damage by pests. “The current widespread problem of coconut scale infestation could have been prevented five years ago if the government had paid serious attention to reports of the initial infestation,” a senior entomologist said.
To address the issue, the state Government amended the 100-year old excise laws and has come out with a policy to promote neera production through farmers’ associations. Neera is considered a health drink on account of its high nutritive and medicinal value. A silver lining, however, is that the export of coconut from the state is showing an uptrend, especially for virgin coconut oil and copra powder – high-quality varieties that are largely produced in Tumakuru and other old Mysuru region.
Inputs – TOI
