Malabar losing ground in farm produce trade

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE, DEC. 12. ``The golden era is behind us and we are losing out in the export of almost every produce. There was a time when Kozhikode and Malabar occupied the top slot in the world market for agriculture produce,'' says a senior member of the Malabar Produce Merchants' Association.

As the Association celebrates its Diamond Jubilee this year, it has been an occasion for introspection and evaluation for the organisation of what the region has been losing out on in agriculture produce trade. The reasons cited are many for this sharp downfall.

The association, one of the first of its kind, was set up with 18 members in 1939 to represent traders of spices, hill produce, coconut and coconut products in Malabar. It functioned from a rented building on Silk Street. Mr. K.M. Ahmed Koya Haji was its first president (1940-41). Mr. C.A. Kunhimoosa Haji was the first secretary. The association assumes importance as it was set up at the time to safeguard and promote the agriculture trade of the region through local channels. In the present globalisation scenario, its relevance has become all the more crucial in safeguarding the interests of local farmers.

Prominent leaders such as T. Hassan Koya Molla, Syyed Abdurahiman Bafakki Thangal, Ratanji Manekji, Sankunni Menon and L.K. Ramaiyyer were members of the association.

The present building of the association was inaugurated in 1975 and the membership has risen to 384.

It was during 1960-1980 that the activities of the association peaked, with domestic sales and export registering a boom. The association was then dealing in tapioca, cashew nut, pepper, dry ginger, cardamom, turmeric, arecanut, coconut, copra, coconut oil, lemon grass oil and rubber.

The once teeming and prosperous Valiyangadi and Copra Bazaar areas in Kozhikode are far less busy areas today. The godowns are no more bursting with produce, the labour has diminished considerably and there were fewer consignments for export.

``The export potential has diminished manifold. In fact, there is a 60 per cent fall when compared to the Fifties and Sixties. Also, fall in agriculture produce price and cultivation has had its grave repercussions,'' says the president, Mr. N. Ummer Koya.

The general secretary, Mr. P.I. Pushparaj, agrees. Mr. Pushparaj points out that despite the public awareness campaign launched against palm oil and popularisation of coconut oil, there has been only a 25 per cent increase in the demand for copra, the major commodity the association dealt in. He cites various reasons for the nosediving of copra and coconut trade in Malabar when compared to earlier years. It was only in the rural centres that the campaign had picked up. The urban population was still to fall in line.

Hoteliers too were averse to using coconut oil as cooking medium as it was believed that food dishes became stale faster. The anti palm oil campaign had turned out to be more of a publicity stunt, he opines.

He points out that earlier there was a Government directive that 25 per cent of the oil used in soap and vanaspathi manufacture had to be coconut oil. Now a product called palm kernel which was priced at only Rs. 17 per kg was being used. The product was imported from Malaysia.

At present there were no dealings in tapioca which once was high on the list of the association. Shiploads of the commodity used to be exported. Mr. K.V. Koyassan Koya Haji, a senior member and twice president, reminisces how a chartered steamerload of 1,56,000 lakh bags of dry tapioca was exported to Holland in 1962. Tapioca was exported mainly for cattle feed production, and its use in textile manufacture too had fallen. All this had resulted in fall in cultivation too. Another prized commodity which had a booming export potential to Jeddah, Eden, etc., was quality dry ginger-`chukku' from the region. This market too was taken over by China now.

Pepper export too had diminished with Brazil and Indonesia entering the trade. Associations had been set up in Alappuzha, Vadakara, and Ponnani for coconut and copra trade. Areca trade which was a mainstay had nosedived following the shifting of the trade to Changaramkulam, near Edappal. A State-level association has been set up there. Areca which sold at Rs. 14,000 a quintal last year was today (December 12) priced at only Rs. 6,000 a quintal, Mr. Koyassan points out.

The prime dealings today were in coconut and copra. The association dealt with 1,500 to 2,000 quintals of coconut a day during the peak season (February-August), and 750 to 1,000 quintals a day during the off-season.

The coconut procurement policy of the Government has played havoc in the operations of the association. The repercussions would be felt more in 2001, Mr. Pushparaj opines. The fall in the area under coconut cultivation and the ill-effects of the mandari mite too would make the yield lesser and of an inferior variety. Now, the procurement rate of copra a quintal was Rs. 3,250, and this was likely to be increased.

The jubilee celebrations were inaugurated by the Transport Minister, Mr. C.K. Nanu, on November 25. The valedictory will be organised in January. Release of a souvenir, seminars on `Challenges facing agriculture produce', `Youth participation in trade', etc., sports competitions are planned.

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