North India goes nuts over Tiptur copra

The onset of winter and festival season has increased copra consumption in North India. 
Tiptur copra
Tiptur copra

TUMAKURU: The price of Tiptur copra, regarded one of the finest varieties in the country, is zooming. Ease of transportation and huge demand in North India are said to be the two important factors that have made the market buoyant.

On Saturday, the arrivals stood at 2,312 quintals and the copra fetched Rs 16,200 per quintal at the Tiptur Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) market. On November 25, it was Rs 15,000 per quintal. “The ban on import of coconut oil is also one of the factors that has helped Tiptur copra fetch a good price,” said Tiptur APMC secretary Nyamgouda N B. The trend may continue and the price may go up to Rs 18,000 per quintal, he said.

The onset of winter and festival season has increased copra consumption in North India.  During the lockdown, the price of copra ranged between Rs 10,000 and Rs 11,000 as traders found it hard to transport it. The farmer felt the pinch then, but now there are buyers from Rajasthan, New Delhi and Gujarat among other states.

“I used to transport the goods up to Vijayapura in Karnataka during the lockdown and now have been sending the high quality packed ball copra to Vashi Market in Mumbai,” said G K Prakash of Kalikamba Traders in Mavinhalli. Amaan Traders sells many copra varieties. The ball copra is priced at Rs 150 per kg with a minimum order of 20 kg.

The MSP for ball copra has been increased to Rs 10,300 per quintal for the 2020 season from Rs 9,920 per quintal in 2019. If the price crashes below Rs 10,300, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) procures the copra at the MSP.

Rajapuri Bits copra (it is cut into pieces) has a huge demand in Tamil Nadu as the oil extracted from it is of high quality, according to traders. “Considering the production cost of the farmers due to a drought-like situation, Tiptur copra should fetch at least Rs 20,000 per quintal to make it remunerative for them,” said Srikanth Kelahatti, an activist, who has also been demanding the GI tag for Tiptur copra.
 

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