Farmers in Tiruppur to step up protests demanding supply of coconut oil through fair price shops

Tiruppur farmers demand replacement of palm oil with coconut and groundnut oil for fair price shops.

Farmers in Western districts have resolved to sustain their efforts in the runup to the Lok Sabha elections to draw the attention of the Central and State governments to their main demand for replacing palm oil with coconut oil and groundnut oil for large-scale distribution through fair price shops.

On Sunday, about 500 farmers took out a rally in Tirupur organised by Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Protection Movement demanding replacement of palm oil with coconut oil and groundnut oil for subsidised sale through fair price shops in Tamil Nadu. They questioned the rationale behind India, an agricultural country, subsidising palm oil imported from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Over 70% of oilseeds are imported, neglecting the availability of coconut, ground nut and sesame within the country for large-scale procurement and distribution of oil.

The DMK Government, they emphasised, had a responsibility to fulfil the 66th poll promise for supply of coconut oil through fair price shops for the upkeep of the health of poor people.

Every month, the Tamil Nadu Government was procuring two crore litres of palm oil priced at ₹100 per litre, involving subsidy component of ₹70 per litre. The tax money of the people of Tamil Nadu to the extent of ₹1,800 crore benefited only the palm oil corporates.

The drastic drop in the price of coconut to ₹10 per nut from ₹20 last year has caused a crisis for the coconut farmers. The low procurement price for copra fixed by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, New Delhi, has further landed the coconut farmers in misery. Against the current procurement of copra at ₹110.60 per kg, the farmers have been seeking a minimum support price of ₹150 a kg. The labour cost has more than doubled from ₹400 to up to ₹1,000 per day per worker over the last few years.

Even the groundnut farmers are not able to cover the costs of cultivation due to the unremunerative prices. The waiver of import duty for palm oil in the interests of corporates by the BJP Governemnt at the Centre led by Narendra Modi has crushed the livelihood of 1.10 crore coconut farmers in India, the speakers at the rally said.