Coconut farmers took out a march to the Secretariat and staged a dharna under the aegis of All-India Kisan Sabha on Friday in protest against the crash in prices. The dharna was inaugurated by Kisan Sabha state general secretary Sathyan Mokeri. In the inaugural address, he demanded the right to produce ‘neera’ from tapping coconut trees to the farmers. “Necessary changes should be made in the Abkari Act to give the right to produce ‘neera’ to the coconut farmers immediately. A coconut now costs only Rs 3 which was around Rs 6 the previous year. The production of coconut was more than 550 crore last year. The coconut farmers have lost more than Rs 1500 crore in a year,” he said.
“There is no facility in the state now to procure copra or coconut. NAFED says that copra should be procured at Rs 5,100 per quintal. Copra is not procured directly from the farmers. In the open market, a quintal of copra costa Rs 3,700, a difference of Rs 1,400 with the NAFED rate,” he said. He also alleged corruption in procuring copra and coconut from high-level copra traders.
The Kisan Sabha demanded the same subsidy for coconut oil as given to palm oil, to take measures to extend the market for coconut products and to exempt coconut products from tax. A Kisan Sabha worker got minor burn injuries amid the protest staged by Sabha activists. The incident occurred when the coconuts they brought to the venue were set ablaze as part of the protest.