The government will procure raw coconut from farmers from January 5 with prices falling in the northern parts of the State, said Agriculture Minister P. Prasad here on Thursday.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting held here to discuss the situation. The government had fixed the procurement price of raw coconut at ₹32 per kg. The Agriculture Director has been asked to speed up the procurement through Kerafed, the Kerala State Coconut Development Corporation, panchayat-level committees formed under the Keragramam project and cooperatives.
The meeting also decided to urge the Centre to step up procurement through NAFED.
Agriculture Production Commissioner Tinku Biswal, Agriculture director T. V. Subhash, Kerala Prices Board chairman P. Rajasekharan, Additional director of agriculture Anila Mathew, Kerafed managing director R. Ashok and other officials were present.
