When tender nuts wither under the scorching sun
Farmers are anxious now to save their coconut plantation at any cost, even as lakes and borewells have also gone dry
The districts of Chitradurga, Tumakuru and Hassan in Karnataka are replete with coconut plantations. These districts are not only famous for their copra, but are also major suppliers of coconut and tender coconut for cities like Benglauru. Coastal Karnataka, on the other hand, provides coconuts ideal to make oil.
A farmer peeling copra from the shell at Tiptur, in Tumakuru district of Karnataka.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH
However, the drought situation that prevailed over the last year in Karnataka has left a trail of devastation. It is disheartening to see coconut fronds turning brown in most of the coconut groves in these districts. Farmers are anxious now to save their coconut plantation at any cost, even as lakes and borewells have also gone dry.
Coconut shell collected from the farmers which is used for handicraft and domestic purposes in Karnataka.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH
To make matters worse, a large number of farmers were affected by the falling price of Copra because of delay in purchase by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), though this issue was raised in the Karnataka Assembly. In many places, rice mills have been converted to copra procurement centres because traders and middlemen were allegedly manipulating prices in APMC.
Farmers getting copra to a procurement centre at Maysandra in Tumakuru district in Karnataka.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH
A farmer unloading copra for peeling it from the shell at Tiptur in Tumakuru district.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH
NAFED has decided to procure 70,000 tonnes of copra from Karnataka at a price of ₹12,000 per quintal while the State Government is offering ₹1,500 per quintal. Normally, copra procurement begins by December and January, but this year, it started in April and will go on for a few months.
Leaves turned brown and dying for not getting enough water to Coconut trees due to the drought situation at Holalkere Taluk in Chitradurga district in Karnataka.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH
Though the Monsoon has set in in Karnataka and good spells are predicted, farmers are anxious about saving their plantations in this region, having missed out on one rain cycle.
A farmer coconut shells to a vehicle at Tiptur, in Tumakuru district of Karnataka.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH
A farmer peeling copra from the shell at Tiptur, in Tumakuru district of Karnataka.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH
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