Pay more for banana chips this Onam

Banana chips are likely to be costlier this Onam season as the price of coconut oil in which it is customarily fried has risen sharply by over 70 per cent from a year ago due to high demand and shortage of copra.

With the spurt in coconut oil prices, some have started using cheaper substitutes like sunflower oil. The retail price of coconut oil is hovering around Rs 180-200kg. Insufficient rains in the southern states last year led to a fall in coconut output, which in turn, affected copra supply.

"There is a 30 per cent shortfall in copra availability. Diversion to tender coconuts and to value added products like dessicated coconut powder, coconut milk and virgin coco nut oil has also led to paucity of copra," said Sunny Francis, director of KLF Nirmal Industries, a leading coconut oil manufacturer.

A survey conducted by the Coconut Development Board had revealed that coconut output will fall short in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which together contribute to around 90 per cent of the coconut production in the country.

The runaway rise in export of coconut oil last year has also resulted in the depletion of stock with growers. From February this year, world coconut prices rose by 30 per cent paving the way for a rise in demand for Indian coconut oil.