For the 2023 season, the MSP for Fair Average Quality milling copra has been set at Rs 10,860 per quintal and Rs 11,750 for ball copra. "This represents a Rs 270/quintal increase for milling copra and a Rs 750/quintal increase for ball copra over the previous season," according to an official statement.
The season in Kerala begins in December and in Tamil Nadu begins in April and lasts approximately six months.
In a press conference following the CCEA meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur stated that the approval is based on recommendations from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices as well as the views of major coconut-growing states. He went on to say that raising the MSP would result in a margin of 51.82 percent for milling copra and 64.26 percent for ball copra over the all-India weighted average cost of production (A2+Family Labor).
The announced MSP for copra for the 2023 season is consistent with the Government's Budget 2018-19 announcement of an MSP of at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production.
When market rates fall below MSPs, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) will continue to act as nodal agencies for the procurement of copra and de-husked coconut directly from farmers under the Price Support Scheme (PSS).
NAFED's recent decision to sell copra obtained from farmers in the open market has lowered commodity prices. Copra prices in Kerala are around Rs 87 per kg, while in Tamil Nadu they are around Rs 82. Traders predicted that prices would rise to Rs 96 after falling to Rs 76 two months ago.
However, NAFED's decision has pushed up prices even further. Under the procurement scheme, NAFED purchased approximately 40,600 tonnes of milling copra from Tamil Nadu and 255.55 tonnes from Kerala during the 2022 season via multiple portals.
