Workers of the JD(S) under the leadership of former Minister H.D. Revanna staged a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Hassan demanding a suitable support price for copra.
The price of copra has fallen dramatically, causing a huge loss to the coconut growers. As of Saturday, December 2, the modal price at Arasikere market was ₹7,269 per quintal. In the Tiptur market, the modal price was ₹8,000. In a couple of months, the price was above ₹18,000 per quintal.
The protesters staged a dharna, dumping a few bags of copra in front of the DC’s office. Mr. Revanna said the Congress, in its manifesto, had assured ₹15,000 per quintal of copra. Even six months after coming to power, the party had not fulfilled its promise. He demanded the State government come to the rescue of the farmers.
C.N. Balakrishna, Shravanabelgola MLA, said the coconut growers had been suffering losses due to the diseases that affected the coconut farms. Both the Centre and the State consider the farmers’ demands and fulfil them, he added.
C. Sathyabhama, Hassan DC, met the protesters and received their memorandum. JD(S) district president K.S. Lingesh and others participated in the protest.
Congress MLA blames Centre
Meanwhile, K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, Congress MLA, in a press conference, held the Central government responsible for the plight of coconut growers. “We had urged the Chief Minister to announce a support price of ₹1,250 in addition to the Centre’s ₹11,800. However, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) has not begun to purchase copra from the growers,” he said.
The MLA said it was the duty of the NAFED to procure agriculture products from farmers when the price fell in the open market. “The leaders of opposition parties should put pressure on the Centre to help the coconut growers. If the JD(S) take a delegation to the Centre on this issue, I will welcome their move,” he said.
