Tarun Karthick
The farmers of Great Nicobar have been struggling for years as they have not been getting the right price for the coconuts they grow on the Island. At present, the farmers receive less than Eight Rupees per Coconut after they have paid for the labour and transportation required to sell their produce.
The dip in the price of coconut over the years has been attributed to the failure of the Administration to persuade the agencies involved in purchasing Copra at the Minimum Support Price as announced by the Central Govt. every year.
Several protests were organised over the years but the purchase of Copra at Minimum Support Price was not resumed. The Chief Secretary on 6th February 2023, announced the reintroduction of procurement of copra under the Minimum Support Price scheme through NAFED during his visit to Car Nicobar, but the details are still unclear.
To fetch a better price for their Coconuts and Copra the farmers had earlier requested the Administration to provide vessels with container transportation facility so that their produce can be directly shipped to Chennai.
Although, after the request by farmers and political leaders containers were made available onboard Sindhu for transportation of coconuts and copra in August 2022, but the ship staff refused to allow copra as cargo.
The farmers of Great Nicobar have now again demanded that transportation of Coconuts and Copra be facilitated on Nalanda which is scheduled to sail from Port Blair to Chennai via Little Andaman, Nancowry and Campbell Bay on 10th February 2023.
Mr. E S Rajesh, Pramukh, Campbell Bay has also written to the Director of Shipping Services through Assistant Commissioner, Campbell Bay requesting transportation of Coconuts and Copra onboard Nalanda for the benefit of the farmers.
Mr. Rajesh in his letter mentioned that 25 Tonnes of Copra and 15 Tonnes of Coconut are readily available with the farmers for transportation to Chennai.