The district has regulated markets at Ammoor, Kalavai, Timiri, Arakkonam, Nemili, Arcot, and Kaveripakkam.Farmers owning coconut groves in Ranipet district are in a bind as the lack of a regulated markets for their produce is forcing them to sell coconuts to private traders for cheap rates, sources alleged.
The district has regulated markets at Ammoor, Kalavai, Timiri, Arakkonam, Nemili, Arcot, and Kaveripakkam. While the Kaveripakkam regulated market is limping along, the Arcot market is closed, while the others see moderate business.
However, the problem is that none of these functioning regulated markets can procure copra due to government orders to this effect. Hence farmers in Kavanur and Pudur villages near Arcot town used to travel to Vellore 30 kilometres away with their produce to offload them at the regulated market near the circuit house.
Sources said that copra can be procured only by the regulated markets at Vellore, Gudiyattam, Vaniyambadi, and Tirupattur due to the bountiful presence of coconut groves in these districts. However, while the copra procurement limit was fixed at 40 tonnes in Vellore it was 10 tonnes each for the Gudiyattam, Vaniyambadi, and Tirupattur markets.