Thiruvananthapuram: The last date for procurement of milling ‘Copra’ has been extended to November 6. Earlier, Kerala Agriculture minister GR Anil wrote to the central government requesting to extend the August 1 deadline set for the procurement of ‘Copra’.
The central government had earlier identified KERAFED and MARKETFED as the primary agencies to procure milling Copra from farmers in Kerala. However, NAFED stated that KeralaFed is already tasked with cooking oil production and cannot undertake ‘Copra’ procurement.
GR Anil said that decision has severely affected the coconut farmers in the state. He added that the state was able to successfully procure Copra since its market price was lesser than the support price in several areas.
