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The State Government has taken steps to procure raw coconuts directly from farmers from February next year, State Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan has said.
This has been necessitated in the wake of the severe crisis in coconut sector due to fall in prices, he said while inaugurating the Coconut Investors Meet here.
Neera tapping
The government has also given in-principle approval for ‘neera’ tapping. He hoped that the coconut bio-parks will be the stepping stone in the way forward of the coconut sector.
The Minister said that as farmer security will ensure food security, the government was ready to formulate novel schemes for the benefit of the coconut farming community.
Coconut bio-parks
Agriculture Production Commissioner Subarto Biswas promised government support to committed coconut entrepreneurs. He emphasised the need for value-addition in coconut and hoped that a handful of entrepreneurs would come up through the coconut bio-parks.
T.K. Jose, chairman of Coconut Development Board, pointed out that lack of focussed attention is making the sector a laggard. The farmers are not getting the right value for the crop. There should be a coconut bio-park in each of the ten districts that have more then 25,000 hectares under coconut cultivation.
He requested the State Government to supply coconut oil through Public Distribution System and also to introduce coconut oil in mid-day meal programme of schools.
Jose called upon farmers and entrepreneurs to work together to make India the global leader in coconut production, productivity, value-addition and export.
Investor meet
The investor meet in coconut processing sector on the theme ‘Product Diversification, Value Addition and Processing in Coconut – Future Outlook’ was jointly organised by the Coconut Development Board, KSIDC and Department of Agriculture.
Representatives of various banks spoke on the available schemes and had interactions with the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs from the coconut processing sector presented their success stories. More than 250 entrepreneurs attended the meeting.
> sajeevkumar.v@thehindu.co.in
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