Ponda: Residents of Ponda, especially housewives, are worried about the skyrocketing price of coconut due to declining production due to changing climatic conditions, animal and insect attacks.
Coconut is an essential daily item in the kitchen for preparing fish curry and other food items. But, its price has increased significantly in the last few months.
According to Neelam Kurtarkar, a vendor at the Ponda ‘Agri Bazaar’, three months ago, she was selling coconuts in the price range of Rs 8 to Rs 25, depending on the size. Now, its price ranges between Rs 16 to Rs 35.
“Farmers are complaining of low production in their orchards, about 50 percent of the trees are not bearing fruits. And most of the coconuts that are plucked are used for self-consumption.
“For the last three months, the problem has become very serious. Due to this, there has been a shortage of coconuts in the market,” she said.
Another vendor, Gurudas Naik, said the size of coconuts had decreased due to changing climatic conditions.
“Also, coconut pluckers are charging around Rs 100 to 150 per tree, while the size of the fruit has almost reduced. This has affected the profit margin. As a result, many coconut pluckers are refusing to pluck coconuts. “We are somehow arranging additional coconuts from outside the state to meet the demand of our regular customers,” Naik said.
According to him, there was less production during the last plucking season in December 2023, which led to a shortage in the market and an increase in prices.
Housewife Nayan Naik demanded that the government should stabilize coconut rates.
Gurudas Dond of Nirankal said that various animals like monkeys, wild boars and bison were destroying coconut plantations.
“I used to harvest 4,000 coconuts per season. There is no produce to harvest now,” Dond said.
Regional Agriculture Officer Santosh Gaonkar said that there was less yield in the last harvesting season. Changing climatic conditions and weevil attacks have reduced the size of coconuts.
“We provide guidance to deal with the mite attack to bring the fruits back to normal size. The government provides an assured minimum support price of Rs 15 per coconut to farmers. Farmers sell their crops to registered dealers and after showing the bills, they get a balanced amount of assured price,” Gaonkar said.
He expressed hope that production and prices will return to their original position by the next harvesting season.
