The intense summer heat across the whole of Karnataka leads to a very high degree of demand for cooling beverages, and tender coconut is one of the preferred natural beverages.
A recent twist has also taken up some of this space, putting Maddur, which is one of Asia’s largest tender coconut markets by trade, in the front seat: Maddur has become a hub for delivering tender coconuts to the entire state and country. The usual market receives 5 to 6 lakh coconuts per day in normal times.
But this year, the supply is now between 1.5 and 2 lakh coconuts a day. The dramatic drop has been attributed to two reasons: the effect of extreme heat and crop diseases (mostly affecting coconut trees). One of those problems--the so-called "nut fall disease" is said to result when coconuts are dropped early from trees, and poor yield ensues.
Farmers' production levels suffer, leading to supply losses in the market. In response to that shortage of supply, prices have risen sharply. In Maddur, the price of one tender coconut will range between ₹50 and ₹53, depending on the quality. It is now much more expensive than normal prices, so higher even higher for the traders and end users.
For coconut traders who purchase it in bulk and pack it to cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru, the picture is much worse. More transportation costs and falling supply have driven up retail prices even further in cities. However, as procurement costs and prices in the market have only increased, many traders say, or many traders reported their margins have been squeezed. Many small merchants and roadside sellers rely on a steady stock of coconuts in the summer months to keep customers, which often becomes impossible when there’s a scarcity.
Many are short on stock, so they can never run at full capacity, and their incomes suffer amid what happens during their highest season. Consumers are being squeezed, too. Tender coconut, usually a budget-friendly and healthy summer drink, is being driven up in price and is harder to come by. As temperatures rise, that disparity in demand and supply has only increased.
Agricultural experts say long-term solutions, everything from better crop management to disease control to climate-resilient farming methods, are needed if crises like this are to be prevented going forward. In the absence of urgent intervention, those kinds of repeated climate extremes will keep occurring.
Due to the heat of summer, Maddur-area traders and consumers are asking for relief (better availability, or at least cold temps). Until then, the simple tender coconut, once abundant and inexpensive, has turned into a rare commodity that becomes pricey.
