Coconut farmers must utilise opportunities to boost productivity: Raghavan

The Coconut Development Board (CDB) celebrated World Coconut Day by launching its newly revised schemes and presenting export excellence awards at an event held in Angamaly on Tuesday (September 2).

M.K. Ragahavan, MP, who inaugurated the programme, stressed the need for concerted efforts in processing and product diversification in the coconut sector. He urged farmers to utilise the opportunity to increase the production and productivity of coconuts.

Kerala was at the forefront in the areas of coconut cultivation, production, and productivity. But the State is lagging behind now. Coconut farmers in the State have to work in a focussed manner towards improving the situation, he was quoted as saying in a release issued here.

Prabhat Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of CDB, announced that the subsidy for the Area Expansion Programme had been raised from ₹6,500 per hectare to ₹56,000 under the revised cost norms. Similarly, the subsidy for seedling production has been enhanced from ₹8 to ₹45. He emphasised that integrated efforts in production, processing, marketing, and exports are crucial to ensuring the long-term growth of the sector.

CDB Chairman Suba Nagarajan said that the board had been allocated a higher budget for schemes supporting the integrated development of coconut cultivation and industry, according to the release.

The export excellence awards instituted by the CDB to recognise outstanding performance in the coconut industry were presented during the function.