Coconut growers in Karnataka are losing sleep over the continuous fall in copra prices. The prevailing price in the market, they claim, is insufficient even to meet the input cost.
In November 2022, the copra price was around ₹14,500 per quintal. The price started to fall in December 2022. For the last six months, the price has been around ₹8,000 per quintal. As of July 10, the ball copra was sold at ₹7,000 in Channarayapatna market in Hassan district, according to growers.
Ramachandra, a coconut grower from Valagerahalli in Channarayapatna taluk, tends to 500 coconut trees. “Given the cost of cultivation and human labour, farmers should get at least ₹25,000 per quintal of copra. But, human labour and the value of land are never taken into account. The prevailing price is insufficient to meet our regular expenses, forget being able to repay loans,” he said.
