Coconut cultivation in Cauvery Delta is expanding but farmers demand better market linkages

There’s a Tamil saying — ‘Petra pillai kaivittalum, natta pillai sorupodum’ that means that even if your own child doesn’t look after you, the child you sowed (coconut sapling) will.

In the coastal areas of the Pattukottai and Peravurani, which lie in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district, several farmers are switching to coconut cultivation. 

Krishnan, from Tamil Nadu’s Kuruvikkarambai village, says coconut trees have been around since his grandfather’s time. But back then, there were only 50-60 trees. 

With the passage of time, the area under ​​coconut cultivation has increased. He explained that if there are 10 acres under coconut cultivation now, in the past it would be nine acres of paddy and an acre of coconut trees. 

Multiple factors have motivated the expansion in coconut cultivation in this region. Unreliable irrigation water availability owing to declining surface water supply and high dependence on groundwater for successful paddy cultivation are major factors. 

Other reasons include high cost of paddy cultivation, higher maintenance needs of paddy and lack of labour to manage the cultivation. The annual expenses of maintaining a coconut orchard are lower in comparison. And once planted, it is a continuous source of income after the initial lag. 

Neelakandan, aged 46 years, worked abroad till a couple of years ago. Since his return to his village, he has planted four acres of coconut in the Sengamangalam area of ​​Peravurani taluk.

Farmers in this area began shifting from paddy to coconut about 20 years ago. Coconuts were cultivated here during the 1950s-1960s. However, as the market for coconut was not well established, more rice was cultivated until 2000. 

The intensive rice cultivation yielded more profits initially. But overtime by 2000, several farmers started turning to coconut cultivation due to labour shortages and lower income compared to cost of paddy cultivation. 

Why coconut farming?

Murugan, from Marungapallam village, cultivates coconut on 15 acres and the traditional paddy on four acres. He has realised that there is a lot of competition in selling traditional rice. Some competitors with commercial motives at heart, sell paddy at a very low price without proper cultivating it.

Murugan said he is going to switch from paddy to coconut.

For landowning households who have diversified to non-farm income sources, coconut cultivation is easier to manage. 

Rajendran, aged 60 years, has cultivated coconut for 20 years on less than two acres in Sengamangalam.

Every year, he migrates to Andhra Pradesh for a few months during the summer. He runs a juice shop and returns to town after the season ends. After returning to the village, he takes care of the coconut plantation.

Low maintenance of coconut trees allows him to stay away for those few months. Rajendran also mentioned that it is easy to borrow from money lenders without any documents because he owns a coconut farm. 

Coconut is a perennial crop. It can generate income throughout the year. It can be harvested six times a year. Once planted, native coconuts have a lifespan of over fifty years. 

Farmers report that compared to indigenous varieties which take five years or more before they can be harvested, hybrid coconut trees can be harvested by the third year, and the yield is more than indigenous coconut trees.

Coconut trees have moderate irrigation requirements. Irrigating them twice a month is sufficient. 

Each coconut sapling will be planted at a distance of 25 feet, which means a total of 75 coconut trees will be planted per acre. 

As these areas are located closer to the coast, they have sandy and saline soil and groundwater is saline below a certain depth. Generally, the groundwater in these areas is found below 300 or 400 feet, depending on the area. 

“The soil we have is suitable for coconut cultivation. Coconut is a coastal plant that can grow in salt water. Coconuts have been washed into the sea during storms in distant geographies. The ocean usually does not always retain debris, but washes it up along the shore,” Krishnan said.

“The ocean holds only living things in it. It removes debris. Once the coconut is deposited on the beach, it will begin to germinate (in salt water itself) after the end of the rainy season. The origin of coconuts was in coastal areas. So, we assumed it would grow in all land or soil and seasonal conditions,” he added.

Dependence on groundwater

Farmers in these areas mostly rely on groundwater through borewells for coconut irrigation. Coconut was cultivated as a rain-fed crop in the early days when shallow wells were the only source of irrigation.

Overtime, the shallow wells disappeared due to lowering of the water table. Borewells were introduced in the area around the 1980s. 

During those times, holes 200-250 feet deep and four inches in diameter were drilled. 

Now, drilling is done till an average depth of 400 feet and 7.5 inches in diameter, using a 10 HP motor. Farmers recollected that the water level in the initial days of borewell usage was 20-30 feet. Now, the water level has reached 120-140 feet deep. 

Borewell ownership is unequal. Most large farmers own borewells. Smallholders share the wells of their neighbours. To rent a borewell for irrigation, they have to pay Rs 100 per hour. On an average, a farmer who does not have a borewell has to rent a borewell 5-6 times a year. 

Small farmers cannot afford to set up a borewell as it costs approximately Rs10 lakh to do so. The number of borewells depends on the size of the land, with large farmers holding five acres and above having more than one borewell. Those with three-five acres have only one borewell. 

Not only small farmers but also large farmers share wells of other farmers for coconut irrigation. As many large farmers’ lands here are scattered in different places rather than in one place, it is not possible to set up a borewell separately for each field, which is very costly. 

And since the fields are far away, they cannot carry borewell water through pipelines. So they rent borewells from nearby borewell owners. Some people exchange their boreholes with each other on mutual understanding. 

Due to non-availability of borewells, small farmers (0-3 acres) who cultivate paddy in other parts of Peravurani and Pattukottai are unable to switch to coconut. Coconut farmers here also cultivate paddy. But for them, coconut is the primary crop. Due to high investment, maintenance cost and labour problems in paddy cultivation and insufficient returns from paddy over time, they are thinking of completely switching to coconut.

Challenges in coconut farming

However, coconut cultivation is not without its share of challenges. Pest attacks are very common. 

Beetles like the Red palm weevil (Sivappukoon vandu) and the Orydux Rhinocerus (Kandamiruga vandu) bore holes in coconut trees and destroy them. Tanjore wilt disease is mostly affecting coconut trees in these areas, according to farmers.

Also, there is a problem of bud/stem rot, Whitefly and Eriophyd (infestation) in coconuts. While the above problems can be controlled with insecticides and proper care, it is very difficult to protect coconut from extreme climatic events like storms and heavy rains. 

Coconut farmers say that once the coconut tree is affected and damaged, it will take many years to recover, as the tree starts yielding after five years of planting. 

But this is not the case with other crops. For example, if the rice cultivation period is six months and the crop gets damaged, the loss is only for that one season or one year. It is thus relatively easier to recover from it.

Although there is regular income and low maintenance in coconut farming, extreme weather events have flipped the story. Neelakandan’s orchard was badly affected. Seeing the state of destruction, he noted that his wife fainted.

Farmers mention that coconut trees were damaged in a cyclone in 1954 and another in 1978. Cyclone Gaja in 2018 hit the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu in a big way and caused damage. 

The delta districts of Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam suffered extensive damage due to Cyclone Gaja. 

The coconut farmers of Pattukottai and Peravurani were particularly badly affected. Thousands of coconut trees were uprooted and destroyed. This caused huge loss and distress to the coconut farmers. Even after five years, many coconut farmers have not fully recovered from the losses. Farmers noted that the storm not only uprooted coconut trees but also changed the soil quality and quality of groundwater in the area, turning them more saline.

Krishnan said that lack of manpower has also posed challenges in coconut cultivation. 

Harvesting of coconuts is usually done by men, and women labourers are mostly hired to collect and store the harvested coconuts. 

The availability of women labourers for this work has reduced. So has the number of men who can climb the trees to harvest the fruit. Farmers say that the MGNREGA scheme is the main reason due to which it is very difficult to find labourers in general, especially women.

Krishnan cultivates coconuts in an area of ​​30 acres. He has been growing coconut organically for the past few years.

He says the cost can be reduced by using organic, instead of chemical fertilisers. Krishnan adds that is unable to sell dry/desiccated coconut or copra, because of labour problems.

Market angle

Usually, the coconuts are sold to local traders. There are some traders who buy coconuts directly from farmers. The latter sell the coconuts they grow to a select few traders, who decide the price.  

Farmers said the average price of a coconut is Rs 10-Rs 15 but the price has come down significantly in the last few months. A coconut is now being sold at Rs 6-Rs 8. This has never happened before, they said.

A coconut was sold at Rs 22-Rs 25 before Cyclone Gaja. In fact, the coconut supply should have decreased after Cyclone Gaja. Instead, it has increased. After Cyclone Gaja, the price of coconut dropped to Rs10-Rs 15 and now, the highest price in the last six months has been only Rs.8. Due to the fall in the price of coconuts, farmers are clueless about what should be done. 

Murugan said the government should purchase coconuts directly from farmers as the price of coconuts is not regular and adequate.

He mentioned that although the government has been procuring coconuts from the farmers till now, it is not enough because the government does not purchase the entire production and only a certain quantity is purchased.

Farmers can be benefited by government purchasing directly from them. The fruits should be added in value and provided in government nutrition centres and public distribution (ration shop) shops, he said. 

This study was done as part of the ‘Policy Learning, Local knowledge and Advocacy’ (POLKA) project funded under the Water and Development Partnership programme at IHE Institute of Water Education, Netherlands. 

Views expressed are authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect that of Down To Earth