"We can no longer clamour for higher prices for coconut oil as the country is increasingly coming under international competition," he pointed out.Import of palm oil so far has touched 18 lakh tonnes. Copra and coconut oil are also being dumped in the domestic market indirectly through Nepal. "Though imported to Nepal in the name of consumption in that country, copra and coconut oil from countries such as Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia find their way to India through the Calcutta port," he pointed out. Markose said under the current international trade scenario, it is not possible for a unilateral ban on import of palm oil. "At the most we can do is to clamp a further hike in import duty."

However, he is of the firm opinion that there are certain factors which hinder the coconut industry in Kerala. The stagnation in coconut oil price was also contributed by the increasing production of milling copra in Tamil Nadu. Though the country as a whole is producing about 1400 crore coconut nuts, Kerala's share is barely over 600 crore only.On the other hand, the state's coconut trade continues to be dependent on milling copra.

Kerala is converting roughly around 50 to 60 per cent of coconut produced into copra.To stay afloat, therefore, it has to explore other alternative options such as diversifying into value added products, reducing production cost through minimum use of fertilisers and use of disease free coconut plants and encouraging intercropping of other remunerative crops like pepper, cocoa and cashew in the coconut plantations.