 "Coconut")
The Union cabinet has approved the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for copra for the 2024 season, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare announced on Wednesday. The MSP for fair average quality of milling copra and ball copra has been fixed at Rs 11,160 per quintal and Rs 12,000 per quintal for the 2024 season, respectively.
The ministry said in a press release that the MSP for the 2024 season had been hiked by Rs 300 per quintal for milling copra and Rs 250 per quintal for ball copra over the previous season.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the MSPs for copra for the 2024 season.
The central government had announced in the Union Budget of 2018-19, that MSPs of all the mandated crops will be fixed at a level of at least 1.5 times of all India weighted cost of production. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the major producers of milling copra, whereas ball copra is produced predominantly in Karnataka.
In the last ten years, the government has increased the MSP for milling copra and ball copra from Rs 5,250 per quintal and Rs 5,500 per quintal in 2014-15 to Rs 11,160 per quintal and Rs 12,000 per quintal in 2024-25, recording a rise of 113 per cent and 118 per cent, respectively, the ministry said.
Ball/edible copra is used as a dry fruit and employed for religious purposes, whereas milling copra is used to extract oil.
In the 2023 season, the central government procured more than 133,000 metric tonnes of copra at the cost of Rs 1,493 crores, registering a rise of 227 per cent over the previous season.
