Minister for Agricultural Marketing and Sugar Shivanand Patil on Wednesday informed the Legislative Assembly that procurement of copra from farmers has been suspended for a week following irregularities in the process.
In reply to the debate on procurement copra in nine districts, including Hassan and Tumakuru, Mr. Patil said a probe would be conducted into registration of bogus names by farmers and traders. Nine employees hired by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) have been suspended on the charges of irregularities.
Members cutting across party lines urged the government to procure copra from coconut growers by increasing the support price. The State government has announced support price at ₹1,250 per quintal. The Central government fixed the MSP at ₹11,750 per quintal.
Members alleged that growers were in distress in view of the collapse in prices of copra. While the price of copra in the open market in 2022 was ₹19,000 per quintal, it has fallen to ₹8,000 per quintal this year.
