The area under coconut in India is 21.53 lakh hectares with a production of 146.95 lakh tones during 2019-20, according to the second Advance Estimates of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
The major coconut producing States include Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu has produced 37.01 lakh tonnes of coconuts in 4.37 lakh hectares in the year 2019-20. In addition, coconut in Tamil Nadu is mainly grown in Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Tiruppur, Dindigul and Kanyakumari districts.
The seasonal arrivals of copra to Perundurai market from Karnataka, Kerala and from various parts of Tamil Nadu will start from the end of January & February 2021.
There has been an increase in coconut production due to good rainfall in this season. Although festival season in the coming months can increase the demand, prices are likely to slightly reduce because of the higher arrivals in the next two months.
The TN-IAM Project funded Price Forecasting Scheme of the Centre for Agricultural & Rural Development Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) analysed the last 20 years prices for coconut & copra that prevailed at Avalpoonthurai Regulated Market of Erode district as well as Perundurai Cooperative Marketing Society. The results of the analysis mentioned that the farmgate price of good quality coconut in February to March 2021 would be Rs. 33-35 / kg while good quality copra price will be around Rs. 100-105 / kg.
The price fluctuation will be subjected to the variations in the arrivals from the key production centres in Tamil Nadu and other States. Therefore, farmers are advised to take selling decision accordingly.
