It is popularly believed that the state of Kerala derives its name from two Malayalam words: Kera, meaning “coconut tree”, and alam, meaning “land”.
This theory is not scholastically-backed; etymologists trace the name to a classical Tamil word cheriv-alam, meaning “hill slope”. But for the average Malayali, the first explanation makes more sense.
And one only has to look around for the reason: The countryside is literally awash with coconut trees, with the coconut intricately woven with local culture, including its cuisine.
So much so, it is the oil derived from the coconut that keeps the Malayalee kitchen running.
The problem is, for the past many years, this oil is being adulterated with impunity. If one brand is banned, it reappears on the shop shelves under a new name.
“The authorities know this,” said Baby, a coconut farmer based in Kottayam. “But still it continues.”
Farmers lose out
The office of the Food Safety Commissioner in Kerala banned around 166 coconut oil brands this August, on grounds that these were adulterated and not fit for human consumption.
This is not the first time such a large-scale ban has been ordered; every year, multiple coconut oil brands are found to be in violation of safety regulations in Kerala and are banned.
Consumers know much of what they buy may be adulterated, yet they buy these brands because of the price edge they offer. And it is farmers like Baby who lose out.
For Sunil Thomas, president of Moozhoor Karshaka Bank, a farmer’s society in Kottayam, the math does not simply work out.
According to him, a litre of branded coconut oils is sold in the market at ₹140, which includes packaging charges plus wholesale and retail dealers’ commissions.
“How can they do that without adulterating when just the raw materials cost us ₹155?” asked an incredulous Thomas.
The input costs that Thomas quotes do not account for labour and freight charges.
But even if the farmers extract the oil on their own without hiring extra hands, the coconuts have to be brought from Thissur as the crop yield is not adequate enough for scale in Kottayam. This brings carrying costs into the picture.
The society’s final selling price at an eight percent profit: ₹240 a litre — a clear ₹100 more than what is available on shop shelves.
And this is without the frills, Thomas said. “If we hire labourers, we cannot sell the oil at this price point,” he explained.
Fair price demand
The Moozhoor Karshaka Bank was set up in 2017 with three major objectives: Ensure an income for its shareholders; equip farmers to produce higher-yielding crops, and ensure supply of unadulterated agricultural products to the public.
Today, all three aims are under threat.
First, its 177 shareholders — including 92 women — are not sure if their incomes will be sustained for long. The society produces 1,100 to 1,200 litres of oil per month, and though it gets sold out, this is no guarantee it will do so in future.
“Many of our clients often complain about higher prices by comparing them to the products in the market,” explained Thomas.
The second aim is also under threat. Although the society produces numerous crops, coconut oil is one of the major products it sells. But the uncertainty over its returns could turn away farmers from coconut.
“If there are proper checks and balances in place to ensure that the oil is not adulterated, a fair price can be ensured and more farmers will be willing to take up farming,” Thomas said.
Agrees Baby. “There will be hundreds of societies like ours if there is a fair price given to oil. This will increase the demand for coconuts in Kerala,” he said.
“If it is done properly, the government will also have no need to procure coconuts, and coconut prices will go up automatically.”
And finally, the bans of sub-standard brands over the years have failed to check the practice of adulteration.
“The low selling price of these brands makes us question their quality,” said Thomas.
Coconut farming losing shine?
There are already signs that farmers have started moving away from coconut, but uncertain returns are not the only reason.
Farmers say high labour costs, the water-intensive nature of the crop, and pest attacks are also major deterrents for them.
“If the mandari affects a tree there is nothing much a farmer can do,” said Baby, referring to the Aceria guerreronis, popularly known as the coconut mite. “The farmer can only think it is his fate.”
Baby is not exaggerating. The mite, which infests coconut plantations, can prove economically devastating, destroying up to 60 percent of coconut production.
In the same breath, Baby mentioned another invasive insect, locally known as the komban chelli.
This bug, biologically known as the Oryctes rhinoceros, and which goes by other names such as the Asiatic rhinoceros beetle or the coconut rhinoceros beetle, attacks the developing fronds of raffia, coconut, oil, and other palms in tropical Asia and the Pacific islands.
“All these insects are detrimental for the crop,” he said.
Baby does not blame the average consumer for buying adulterated oil — “he may not have the money to purchase good quality oil”, he said — but he is firm on one point: “The government has to be serious about solutions.”
“Unless that happens, I don’t see any future for coconut farming in Kerala,” he said.
Demand for mechanisation
Producing coconut oil using the traditional method can be a laborious task. The cut coconuts are kept under the sun for six days to be dried so that the outer shell can be removed, and the inner copra processed to make coconut oil.
The Moozhoor society uses a dryer machine to cut down on time, but they feel a machine to help them separate the coconut shell and the copra would speed up the process even more .
“There are machines available to make copra by removing the coconut shell, I have seen them on YouTube,” said Thomas.
If there are machines to break stones then why not a coconut? A dryer that costs between ₹2 lakh to ₹2.5 lakh will cost ₹5 lakh here as there is a patent fee involved. If the state government would intervene and provide one more dryer for us at an affordable rate, we can produce double the litres of oil that we are producing now,” he said.
Aby Ipe, a leader of Kerala Karshaka Congress, a farmers union affiliated to the Congress party, said the government needed to go on a mission to provide good coconut oil to the public.
“It must also provide farmers with equipment at subsidised rates,” he said.
“Then coconut farming will see a revival in Kerala.”
