Coconut farmers in Thanjavur district have urged the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation to procure copra under price support scheme (PSS) procurement in view of the sharp fall in price in the open market.According to the East Coast Coconut Farmers’ Association, Peravurani, the market price of copra has nosedived from ₹250 per kg six months ago to ₹120 per kg now. Hence, NAFED must commence procurement of copra and offer the minimum support price of ₹12,027 per quintal for the Fair Average Quality milling copra and ₹12,500 per quintal for ball copra fixed by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for the 2026 procurement season.The 2026 MSP is ₹445 increase per quintal for milling copra and ₹400-increase per quintal for ball copra compared to the previous season.NAFED used to procure copra under PSS if the market price of copra rule at or below the declared MSP and continue the procurement till stabilisation of market price above the declared MSP, or harvesting period of 90 days as declared by the State governments, whichever is earlier.Procurement of copra is made through State-level and primary-level cooperative networks, according to official sources. Published - June 03, 2026 04:18 pm IST