Coconut cultivators rue poor marketing support

NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Coconut cultivators rue that inadequate marketing support is the most important reason for stagnating coconut production in the state.
The cultivators said that shortage of pluckers is one of the difficulties faced by them in coconut farming. But a bigger hurdle is inadequate marketing outlets due to which they get low prices for the nuts in the market.
The government has upped minimum support price of coconut from Rs 8 to Rs 10 per nut. The cultivators said that it is difficult to avail of the support price due to limited number of registered vendors and the longtime of five months taken by the agriculture department in disbursing the subsidy.
Smalltime farmers cannot afford the cost of transporting the coconuts to the 35 registered vendors and the wait for disbursal of subsidy. So they turn, more often than not, to wholesalers who quote a price as low as Rs 4 per nut.
“Thanks to un-remunerative prices interest in coconut farming has come down and harvesting is down to thrice a year where earlier it used to be four times a year,” said the cultivators.
However, coconut production in 2016-17 is expected to be higher on the back of good monsoon and favourable weather conditions. The standing crop has benefited from good rains.
The growers hoped that a cold winter spell will be encouraging for a bountiful yield.
Production of coconuts over the years has been more or less stagnant at 128-129 million nuts.
According to the agriculture department, coconut is cultivated throughout the state in around 25,800 hectares of land but in small-sized plantations. A farm with 60-70 trees is classified as large, but the average yield is low. A coconut tree has to yield minimum of 80-100 nuts to keep the cultivation economically viable, said a farmer.
Agriculture director Ulhas Pai Kakode said that productivity is better in farms that use fertilisers and neem cakes.
Refuting complaints of delay in payment of subsidy, Kakode said the subsidy is provided in four months on submission of the bill. Consumption of coconuts is high in Goa, and at the retail level the price ranges between Rs 14- Rs 20 per nut.
The farmers said that they have to pay Rs 50-Rs 100 per tree or Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500 per day for plucking and that there is a shortage of ‘paddekars’.
Goa is more or less self-sufficient in coconuts and small quantity of it is imported from Karnataka, claimed the agriculture department.
Tender coconuts, however, is almost entirely imported from neigbouring states.