For 48-year-old Mahendran, March to May is a busy season as the demand for tender coconuts peaks with rising mercury levels. Mahendran has been selling them for nearly three decades in Egmore and now owns two shops and seven push carts. “I buy around 4,000 coconuts every three days,” he says.
As the mercury rises in Chennai , people turn to tender coconuts to beat the heat. The town that supplies Chennai with its daily dose of coconuts is Pollachi, about 40km south of Coimbatore.
According to Hemachandra, deputy director of the Coconut Development Board, Chennai gets around 30 truckloads of coconuts from Pollachi and 15 from Puducherry and Cuddalore between March and May. Each truck has 4,500 coconuts.
The Tender Coconut Producer Association, which consists of Pollachi-based farmers, meets every week to decide the price of coconuts. An SMS is sent to the members and representatives of nearly 200 villages and traders, informing them about the price. Traders then bargain based on the quality of the coconuts.
A E Srinivasan, a farmer and secretary of the association, says Pollachi coconuts are the best as they have more butter. “Earlier, we were not aware of the price in other cities and used to sell coconuts for as low as Rs 4. Now, we sell the hybrid quality for Rs 12 to Rs 14, dwarf variety for around Rs 15 and tall quality for up to Rs 9. The prices will go up in May,” says Srinivasan, who has coconut plantations. Traders come to his farm once a month to take the harvest.
Kamaraj (41), who has been selling coconuts for past 15 years in Egmore, says he buys about 500 coconuts depending on the sales. “I pay Rs 20 for a piece. I sell around 60-70 coconuts daily and the price varies from Rs 25 to Rs 30,” he says.
Till last year, Puducherry, Cuddalore and other coastal districts supplied coconuts. However, Cyclone Thane destroyed most of the plantations, thereby increasing the prices. “I used to buy coconuts for Rs 12, but now I have to pay Rs 20,” says Mahendran.
Despite getting a better price for their produce, things are not all bright for the Pollachi farmers. “There is labour shortage as younger generation doesn’t want to take up this job and only a trained person can climb the tree,” says Srinivasan.
T A Krishnaswamy Gounder, president of United Coconut Growers Association of South India, says youngsters prefer to work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act schemes than climb coconut trees for a living.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Chennai / by Nanya Srivastava / TNN / March 31st, 2012