KERAFED is the top-level co-operative federation of

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

farmers in the southern Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. KERAFED is also a producer and marketer of products based on coconut. It is the third largest producer of coconut oil in India. In July 2019, Minister for Agriculture V. S. Sunil Kumar launched the ''State-Level Raw Coconut Procurement Drive'' with the support of around 190 primary agriculture co-operative societies in Kerala. The latest procurement initiative would assure coconut farmers a supportive price of per kilogram.

History

The

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

established KERAFED in 1987 with the aim of assisting coconut farmers by procuring their produce and regulating marketing operations to address the price challenges they were facing A production unit relating to the sector was created in 1991 to crush and market

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

procured from the farmers at remunerative price to relieve the section of price crunch and to cater the edible oil requirement of the society by maintaining high quality standards. During the financial year 2009–2010, KERAFED procured 24,500 metric tonnes of

for its operations.

Current operations

KERAFED has two expeller oil extraction facilities—one at Karunagappalli, Kollam and the other at Naduvannur, Kozhikode—and caters to about 500,000 consumers in

through 14,000 retail outlets. The oil complex in Karunagappalli, is the largest coconut oil mill in the sub-continent with an installed capacity of 20 tonnes per day (TPD) (7504 TPA, 2009–2010). The facility at Naduvannur provides a production of 7.5 TPD (2693 TPA, 2009–2010). Total production was about 10,000 metric tonnes during the year 2009–2010. During this period, the facilities used 15,887 metric tonnes of

and generated 5,111 metric tonnes of "pinnack" by-product.

Products

"KERA" brand of coconut oil is sold in HDPE bottles of 100 ml, 200 ml and 500 ml; PET bottles of 1000 ml; and polythene pouches of 500 ml and 1000 ml.

References

External links

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Food and Beverage News

{{Coconut Coconut organizations Cooperatives in Kerala Agricultural marketing in India Commodity markets in Kerala Organisations based in Thiruvananthapuram 1987 establishments in Kerala Agriculture companies established in 1987 Marketing companies established in 1987 Agricultural cooperatives in India Agricultural organisations based in India