White clouds drift across the autumn sky and kans grass sways in the breeze. In a few days comes Durga Puja, the Hindu community’s largest religious festival. Along with the preparations for puja, demand for dry coconut has risen in Faridpur’s markets. And with rising demand, its price is climbing too.
Coconut is used in everything from the various materials of puja to the making of prasad. Demand for dry coconut therefore rises several times over at this time, ahead of Durga Puja. Traders say, however, that alongside the extra demand, falling production is another reason for the price rise.
Talking to traders and others concerned established that the number of coconut palms in various parts of Faridpur has fallen compared with before. Many people pick green coconuts from the tree to drink and then fail to tend the trees properly. The tendency to plant new coconut palms has also declined. For want of care, many trees are not bearing fruit. Along with that, with natural and geographical change and various human activities reducing the number of coconut palms, supply has become tight.
Oil companies, meanwhile, are buying large quantities of dry coconut from various upazilas of Faridpur including Boalmari, Alfadanga, Madhukhali, Bhanga, Nagarkanda and Saltha. Sellers said this has reduced supply in the local market and is pushing prices up.
Dipta Saha and Arun Mondal, who had come to buy coconut for Durga Puja, said: “You cannot manage without coconut at puja time. But with the price higher than before this year, we are having to spend extra.”
Abul Hasan, a seller of dry coconut, said: “The supply of coconut is short compared with demand. It also takes a long time to pick coconuts from the trees and bring them to sell. Every day you have to climb 10 or 12 trees and pick coconuts for the householders. From that you bring 10 or 12 coconuts to sell. A worker’s daily wage is 1,000 to 1,200 taka. That is why coconuts have to be sold at a higher price.”
Sellers also said local market supply has fallen further because oil companies are buying coconuts from various parts of the district.
Kalipada Chakrabarti, a retired head teacher from Moyna village in Faridpur, said: “We need dry coconut at Durga Puja. There is a custom of giving coconut naru as puja prasad at relatives’ houses. Coconut is also needed all year round for making naru, pitha and various foods. So the demand for it is always there.”
Yields are falling along with the number of coconut palms. Yet coconut is used extensively everywhere, from the puja plate to the pitha and payesh of the Bengali household. Those concerned have therefore urged that emphasis be placed on planting new coconut palms and on the regular care of existing trees in order to increase production.