MARKETING CHANNELS OF DESICCATED COCONUT POWDER AND CONSTRAINTS FACED BY FIRMS IN KARNATAKA

ARJUMAN BANU¹, M.H. SHANKARA²*, FARHEEN TAJ³, G.R. ARUNA^4
1ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Konehally, 572202, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560 065, India
²ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Konehally, 572202, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560 065, India
³ICAR-AICRP on Post Harvest Engineering and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560 065, India
⁴ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Chintamani, 563125, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560 065, India
* Corresponding Author : shankrimh@gmail.com

Received : 30-10-2018     Accepted : 12-11-2018     Published : 15-11-2018
Volume : 10     Issue : 21       Pages : 7454 - 7456
Int J Agr Sci 10.21 (2018):7454-7456

Keywords : Desiccated coconut powder, Market channels, Constraints
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru, 560 065, India
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera is a member of the family Arecaceae (palm family). Coconuts are part of the daily diet of many people. Coconuts are different from other fruits because they contain a large quantity of "water" and when immature they are known as tender-nuts or jelly-nuts which may be harvested for drinking. When mature, coconut can be used as seed nuts, which can be extracted or processed into oil from the kernel, charcoal from the hard shell and coir from the fibrous husk. In Karnataka coconut is cultivated in all the 30 districts of the state. It is grown in coastal belt as well as in interior parts. However, Tumkur, Hassan, and Chitradurga and Dakshina Kannada districts are the major districts cultivating coconut, together accounting for over 75 percent of the state’s area. In Karnataka, Tumkur district ranked first in both area (1,10,937 hectares) and production (5474.91 lakh nuts) of coconut. The most important traditional commercial product traded in the country has been the coconut oil. The demand and supply of single coconut product determines the price of raw coconut. Moreover, the market share of coconut oil both in domestic and export market is declining due to tough competition, especially from palm and soybean oil prices. Diversification efforts made by coconut oil industries have yielded limited success. Besides, coconut oil and oil cake, the coconut processing industry traditionally has been confined to copra production, manufacture of desiccated coconut, coir and coir products only. With this background the present study was conducted to know the Marketing channels of Desiccated Coconut Powder and constraints faced by the units. All the entrepreneurs indicated that, they sell their product directly to customers in case of confectionary firms and large bakers. Apart from these two, all other segments of customers are catered through intermediaries. Minor portion of sales comes through commission agents whose rate of commission varies between 0.5 percent to 1 percent depending on the quantity of transaction. Results of Garrett ranking indicate that in all the units limited market for desiccated coconut and inadequate labor supply was ranked first. Market for desiccated coconut has not improved over the years through the industry has a long history in the country.

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