Low prices turn coconut farmers into toddy sellers in Tamil Nadu

TIRUPPUR: A section of coconut farmers in Avinashi on Monday started selling toddy and installed banners in front of their groves advertising toddy sales, in defiance of the ban. The farmers said they were forced to do this as copra no longer fetches them attractive returns.

S Duraisamy, a farmer who owns a small coconut grove at Naduvacheri, said, “Coconut prices have fallen drastically in the open market. Farmers’ associations came together and decided to extract coconut toddy to offset the losses through extraction and sale of toddy are banned in the State.”

K Velusamy, the coordinator of the Avinashi unit of the Farmers Association, said, “The price of agricultural products continues to fall, and the government is not taking action to arrest it. Through TASMAC, the government is supporting distillers who manufacture alcohol but failed to legalise traditional liquor on the ground that it is difficult to guarantee quality."

"The government is not even ready to form an expert committee to study the benefits of toddy extracted from coconut trees. Hundreds of coconut farmers in Tiruppur and Coimbatore are affected by the steep fall in the prices of copra. There is no systematic study undertaken to convert coconut toddy into a value-added product that can be marketed.  So we decided to extract toddy. Based on the quality of the toddy, we fixed a price of Rs 70-120 per litre. Around 40 farmers in Avinashi extracted toddy in the initial phase," he added.

He further added, “For over the last two years, local oil mills and few large mills have been procuring copra for Rs 65-75 per kg. In early 2019, the price was around Rs 90 per kg.” C Samayamoorthy, agricultural production commissioner,  said, “Toddy was banned several years ago. Besides, there are other products derived from coconut, such as neera. Farmers must consider this. Officials said they would not allow sale of a banned product, and action will be taken soon.