Coconut & Tender Coconut Prices Shoot up in Mangalore: Read to Know

Coconut and tender coconut prices have shot up in Mangalore due to short supply owing to this year’s drought in traditional coconut growing areas in Karnataka and partly in Tamil Nadu. Increase in demand for coconut for the upcoming Navrathri festival has also pushed up the prices.

The retail prices of coconut hovered between ₹60 and ₹65 per kg, the wholesale prices stood between ₹52 and ₹55 a kg in the city on Saturday, September 28. The retail prices of tender coconut varied from ₹60 to ₹65 per nut while the wholesale prices hovered between ₹52 and ₹58. It is said to be the menace of leaf-eating caterpillars in coconut farms in those areas, and root wilt disease in coconut palms in Tamil Nadu.

S.K. Kusumadhar, president of South Canara Coconut Farmers’ Producer Company Ltd. (FPC), Puttur, said that the FPC was procuring coconut from farmers at ₹47 per k.g. The president said that many farmers are selling tender coconuts without waiting for them to mature to sell coconuts. It has also resulted in a shortage in the supply of matured nuts. Though consumers find it costly, increase in prices has benefitted farmers.

Leaf-eating caterpillars affected the production in Tumakuru, Ramanagara, Mysuru, and Mandya areas. Root wilt disease hit the production in some parts of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Hebbar said.