COIMBATORE: From Rs 22 to Rs 25 a kilogramme in the last week of August, the price of coconut at the farm gate in the district has more than doubled, touching Rs 55 a kg on Friday. Retail price quoting on the portals of online grocery platforms was around Rs 48 apiece.
Coimbatore is the biggest producer of coconut in the state and any change in the price of the widely-used produce will get reflected in the retail market across the state.
The retail price of coconut in Coimbatore city stood at Rs 69 a kg, with the farmers attributing the price hike to the low yield in recent days.
Meanwhile, the traders pointed out that apart from the low yield, the increase in import duty on palmolein oil, soyabean oil and refined sunflower oil from 13.75% to 35.75% are also reasons for the price hike. They said the retail price of the produce was Rs 36 for a kilogramme during August last week.
T Rathina Sabapathi, joint secretary of South India Coconut Growers Association said, “Due to unprecedented drought during March to May, the coconut trees became weak, resulting in low yield. This happened at a time when the farmers lost many trees to the spread of root-wilt disease and white fly attack. Normally, a coconut tree produces 16 coconuts in a month, but this month, it has reduced to just eight.”
He said even though the price of coconut has increased from Rs 30 to Rs 55 in a month, the farmers are not getting any profit the yield has dropped drastically, adding the average weight of a coconut in Pollachi is just 500 grams now.
KS Balachandran, a coconut farmer from Kanjampatti in Pollachi taluk said, “We have never seen such a price hike. The maximum price we got before this was Rs 40 a per kg, that too, in 2021. After that, the price dropped to Rs 22 per kg.”
A Karthiga, a consumer, said, “I bought coconut at Rs 36 per kg two weeks ago. In the retail shop, a small coconut that weighs less than 500 grams costs Rs 30. Due to the price hike, we have cut down on the use of coconut in dishes.”