The Centre has permitted the State government to procure 40,000 tonnes of copra during the current year.
Of the total quantity, 39,500 tonnes will be milling copra and 500 tonnes, ball copra, according to a communication sent by Shashi Bhushan, Director in the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, to the State government on Wednesday.
The rates will be ₹99.6 per kg for the former and ₹103 per kg for the latter.
They are marginally higher than the previous year’s per-kg rates of ₹95.21 and ₹99.2 for milling and ball copra respectively. In 2018-19, the rates were: ₹75.11 and ₹77.5.
Regulated market committees in coordination with Agricultural Marketing department will procure the produce on behalf of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed), which will eventually re-imburse the amount to the State agencies.
The procurement will be done on the line of pulses.
An official in the State Agriculture Department says that farmers in the western region and Cauvery delta have demanded that the State government make arrangements for procurement. The Centre has now given the permission in response to a request of the State government.
Price increase
The official hopes that the announcement on the procurement will lead to increase in wholesale prices of copra in the open market which may ultimately.turn out to be beneficial to the farmers
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