Tender coconuts in demand despite drop in yield

COIMBATORE: As temperatures continue to soar, the demand for tender coconuts produced in Pollachi has gone up despite a drastic drop in yield due to a multitude of factors, including white fly infestation and root wilt disease.

Tender coconuts are sold in retail in the range of Rs 50 to Rs 60 in Coimbatore, while the farm gate price hovers between Rs 40 and Rs 45. The surging demand and drop in its yield are likely to push up its prices further.

Due to the prevailing scarcity of superior-quality tender coconuts produced in Pollachi, those from neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have been brought into the market to meet the demand.

As tender coconuts fetch a higher price than coconuts, some farmers capitalise on the situation and pluck the nuts to be sold as tender coconuts from coconut trees rather than leave them to mature into coconuts. There are some specific varieties, like 'chowghat orange', to produce tender coconuts.

“For coconuts, they need to be plucked in ten months, and it's six months for tender coconuts. The farm gate price of tender coconut is around Rs 45 as against Rs 30 for coconut. So farmers prefer selling them as tender coconuts. Because of this trend, there may be an acute shortage of coconuts in the coming months,” N Thangavel, member of Tamil Nadu Coconut Producers Association.

Yield of both tender coconuts and coconuts has been hit by up to 60 per cent. Due to such a drop in production, only 30 Lorries, each loaded with approximately 50,000 tender coconuts, are sent daily from Pollachi. It was up to 80 lorries until a few years ago, mostly sent to north Indian states.

Farmers claimed that there is a huge mismatch between the demand and supply of tender coconuts. However, the increase in price of tender coconuts has come as a blessing in disguise for farmers, who for long were reeling under severe loss due to pest infestation, rising labour and input costs. Farmers say that tender coconut prices may come down a bit once the South West monsoon sets in and eventually the temperature drops in June.

Various control measures for white fly infestation and other diseases suggested by the agriculture department have yielded no relief to farmers. “The white fly menace is high, particularly from September to April and becomes mild thereafter. Not only in Tamil Nadu, the coconut farms in Kerala, Karnataka and in countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines were also affected by this menace, say farmers.

Despite the increase in prices, farmers couldn’t reap the benefits due to a shortfall in yield. “I used to get a yield of 1.5 lakh tender coconuts, once in 1.5 months, in our farm in Pollachi during the summer season. This time around, the yield has come down to 30,000, and last year it was even worse as the yield was just around 18,000 due to the impact of white fly menace, root wilt disease and other issues,” said P Appukutty, former president of Tamil Nadu Tender Coconut Growers Association.