DINDIGUL: The Dindigul Market Committee has urged the farmers to utilise the second phase of the copra procurement being held at various centres across the district.
It may be noted that coconut is cultivated in an area of 28,000 hectares in Dindigul district. Of this, 329,504 metric tonnes (MT) of the produce are procured, while around 3,295 MT of sales surplus occurs on a general basis.
According to a Dindigul Market Committee official, the committee had procured a total of 2,350 MT of copra between March 13 and June 6, 2024 from six procurement centres in the district, as per government directions.
"In the first phase, 619 MT of copra was procured (during the aforesaid period), benefitting 425 farmers. Considering this, a procurement target of 1,731 MT has been set for the second phase, which will be from September 10 till December 9, 2024. A maximum of 296 kg per acre will be procured from a farmer," the official said.
Conditions for procurement
Farmers, who wish to bring copra for procurement, should submit the original chitta of land ownership along with a copy of Aadhaar and bank passbook at the procurement centres. Besides, the copra must fulfil the certain conditions for procurement such as: Moisture (below 7%), Fungi and discoloration (2%), Foreign material (0.2%), Copra chips (1%), among others. These norms are applicable for both Milling and Ball Copra. It should be noted that the copra which do not fulfil the above conditions will be rejected immediately.