TN farmers lose more coconut trees to the Kerala root wilt disease

COCONUT farmers in Coimbatore district have been caught in an existential crisis as 28 lakh coconut trees spread across 40,000 acres across the district may have to be felled in the next two years due to Kerala root wilt disease infestation.

- M SARAVANAN @Coimbatore

While the price of coconut has increased from ₹18-₹19 per kg in 2023 to ₹55 per kg now, a record three-fold jump in two years, due to the fall in cultivation area because of felling of trees, the cutting exercise too has cast a huge financial burden on farmers. Currently, the government provides a compensation of ₹32,000 per hectare for cutting and replanting trees but the actual cost of the exercise is ₹12.5 lakh per hectare (almost 40 times more), say farmers. It will also take at least three to five years for the crops to start producing yield.