Gujarat: Coconuts no more a cracking business, crores of fruits rotting in farms

RAJKOT: The eye-pleasing sight of endless coconut trees lined up along the coast of Junagadh and Gir-Somnath district is anything but soothing these days.
Instead of the big green ready-to-pluck fruits full of water and kernel, most coconuts on the trees have turned brown due to rotting. Mounds of coconuts have also piled up in the farms and godowns.

Thanks to lockdown and restricted movement in temples and recreation spots, these money-spinning fruits have now become a huge liability for the growers in these two districts, which account for highest coconut production in Gujarat.
Being a perishable commodity, traders, who sign yearly procurement contracts with farmers, are refraining from purchase. In fact, they have not even paid the monthly instalment to producers.
Majority of the coconuts are grown in Veraval and Sutrapada talukas of Gir-Somnath district and Mangrol and Maliya talukas of Junagadh.
Hashim Lunya, a trader in Veraval said, “It was not possible to pluck the coconuts because we had no permission to transport labourers in vehicles during lockdown. Green coconuts are used in direct consumption and generally it is sold at the recreational places, all of which are closed. The ripened coconuts are used in temples as offerings.”
Arjan Barad, a farmer of Badalpara village in Veraval taluka, has been cultivating coconut in seven bigha land and has around 300 trees. “A trader decides monthly Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per tree based on the quality of the fruit. But due to lockdown, no traders came and coconuts rotted on trees itself. Now rotten fruits are piled up in our farm and we don’t know what to do.
Farmers alleged that traders even threatened to cancel the contracts when they asked for monthly instalments.
“In some cases, traders paid 105 to 20% to farmers to share some loss, but these depended solely upon personal relationships,” said another farmer in Sutrapada
Vija Naran, is an agent connecting farmers with traders, does business with 400 orchards on commission bases. “Traders did not arrange for plucking the fruits in March, April and May. They have agreed to restart business in the coming months with the condition that farmers would have to sacrifice payments for these months.”
Sarangpur Hanuman temple in Botad has banned coconuts after reopening. According to temple authorities, nearly 11,000 coconuts were being offered on Saturdays and around 2,500 per day on other days before the lockdown.