As part of its pro-farmers stance since assuming power for its third term, the government on Friday approved an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for copra for the 2025 season. The hike includes a rise of Rs 422 per quintal for milling copra and Rs 100 per quintal for ball copra.
Briefing the media after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “In order to provide remunerative prices to the cultivators, the government had announced in the Union Budget of 2018-19 that the MSP of all the mandated crops will be fixed at levels of at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production. Accordingly, the MSP for ‘Fair Average Quality’ of milling copra has been fixed at Rs 11,582 per quintal and for ball copra at Rs 12,100 per quintal for the crop season 2025.”
The Minister also said that the government decides on the MSP for farm products based on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), which takes into account the cost of production, demand and supply of copra and coconut oil, trends in the domestic and global prices of other vegetable oils, the profitability of coconut vis-à-vis other crops, and the likely impact of the recommended MSP on consumers and other users. It also ensures a minimum margin of 50 percent over the all-India weighted average cost of production.
It is to be noted that the government has increased the MSP for milling copra and ball copra from Rs 5,250 per quintal and Rs 5,500 per quintal for the marketing season 2014 to Rs 11,582 per quintal and Rs 12,100 per quintal for the marketing season 2025, registering a growth of 121 percent and 120 percent, respectively, the Minister asserted.
He said that the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) for the procurement of copra and de-husked coconut under the Price Support Scheme (PSS), which will have an additional financial implication of Rs 855 crore to the government.
A higher MSP will not only ensure better remunerative returns to the coconut growers in Karnataka, which has the highest share of 32.7 percent, followed by Tamil Nadu (25.7 percent), Kerala (25.4 percent), and Andhra Pradesh (7.7 percent), but also incentivize farmers to expand copra production to meet the growing demand for coconut products both domestically and internationally, Vaishnaw said.