Coconut prices had dropped recently, with a fruit being sold at Rs.25. A coconut was previously priced at Rs.65.
It had been a result of the excessive coconut kernel imports, Kurunegala Coconut Estates Owners’ Association President J.M. Jayasooriya said, adding that if it were to continue, the country’s coconut industry would collapse.
He was addressing a meeting of coconut planters held at the Bingiriya Youth Training Centre in Kurunegala, last Sunday. “We appeal to top government authorities in the plantation sector, to take immediate measures to help coconut growers,” he said.