Coconut prices have suddenly risen in Lakshmipur. For the past 15-20 days each coconut has been selling for Tk 80-100 in local markets. Traders say coconut prices have never risen this high in the district before. They claim the sudden, abnormal rise is due to growing demand for green coconuts and the halt in coconut imports from India.

Inquiries found that coconuts used to be imported from India every year before the start of winter because of extra demand. This year imports have not yet begun, and that is why prices have risen.

Coconut production is high in several districts including Chandpur, Lakshmipur, Noakhali, Feni and Cumilla, and these coconuts are supplied across the country. The agriculture department says trade around coconuts and green coconuts in Lakshmipur alone could reach Tk 600 crore this year.

This Meghna coastal area has more than a hundred wholesale traders, who send coconuts by truck and pickup to Dhaka, Sylhet, Sreemangal, Cumilla and other places. The rural economy is buoyant around this product, even though it is grown without planning.

The agriculture department said coconut trees stand on 2,580 hectares in Lakshmipur, but most of the gardens are unplanned, and almost every home has coconut trees. Known for its coconuts, Lakshmipur district is now becoming known across the country for green coconuts too.

Market players say demand for green coconuts has been at its peak in recent years because of a marked rise in the number of dengue patients and intense summer heatwaves, which has led to a shortage in coconut supply and pushed up prices.

Khokon Dewan of South Denayetpur in Raipur has been in the coconut trade for 30 years. He told Jagonews that coconut prices had never been this high before, because imports from India have stopped. "Earlier each coconut was bought for Tk 45-55, but now it costs Tk 90-100."

Md Sharif, a coconut trader at Dalal Bazar, said: "Coconut prices have never been this high. There's no coconut below Tk 80 now. The crop was good this time too, and demand for green coconuts in this area is rising day by day."

Sohel Md Shamsuddin Firoz, deputy director of the Lakshmipur district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said coconut and green coconut trade would be worth Tk 600 crore this year.

He added that coconut prices are rising because of demand for green coconuts. "Coconut gardens here are planted without planning. Seedlings are planted so densely that the trees get little sun. But with fertiliser and proper care, production would increase several times over."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.