The Coconut Development Board is committed to making the country the global topper in production, productivity, processing for value addition and exports during the 12th Plan, Prof K.V. Thomas, Union Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs, said. He was inaugurating the 45th Cocotech meeting of the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) here on Monday.

The Board, he said, has chalked out a host of ambitious programmes under the Technology Mission on Coconut to encourage manufacture of various coconut products such as desiccated coconut powder, packaged tender coconut water, coconut milk concentrate, cream, and virgin coconut oil.

The emphasis is mainly on evolving technologies for the development of new value-added products in tune with those of other leading countries such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia had yielded results, he added. “Aggregation of farmers and their produce will help to make available raw materials at competitive rates,” he said adding this will also trigger farm-level processing for value addition, effective marketing strategies and market promotional activities.

Mr S. Damodaran, Agriculture Minister, Tamil Nadu, called upon scientists to identify new technologies and genes for coconut development particularly to evolve new varieties confirming resistance to root wilt disease and to withstand drought conditions.

He pointed out that Central Plantation Crops Research Institute has 401 genotypes in their gene bank which can be used to develop the sector globally. He also urged the Board to initiate steps to demonstrate new technologies to the farmers in Tirupur, where the Tamil Nadu Government had allotted 33 hectares for production of coconut seedlings.

Mr Romulo N. Arancon, Jr., Executive Director, APCC, stressed the need to increase productivity through replanting and rejuvenation programmes in all coconut growing countries by replacing senile palms, crop intensification promotion and crop diversification through intercropping.

More than 200 delegates are attending the 5-day meet. The conference with the theme “Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development of the Coconut Industry” is taking place in India after a gap of 12 years.

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