Coconut farmers have called for the expansion of the State government’s Kera Gramam project to all the grama panchayats in the district without limiting its implementation to a few wards selected by panchayat-level committees. Now, only 12 out of the 75 panchayats in the district are part of the scheme and that too covering a very small area within the limits of each selected panchayats.
Leaders of Kera Karshaka Sanghom, one of the prominent coconut farmers’ organisations in the State, point out that the expansion of the scheme will benefit thousands of coconut farmers who are going through acute crisis with the cancellation of various Central schemes for coconut cultivation.
Districts such as Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Kasaragod should get the top priority in the implementation of the scheme as these districts have the highest number of coconut producers in Kerala, they point out.
Selection of villages
“The current method of selecting villages for the project is hardly beneficial for the farmers’ community. Many a time, political interventions are visible in the selection of wards. The ward-level selection should come to an end by selecting the whole panchayat and farmers for the scheme,” says Kera Karshaka Sanghom district secretary T. Chandran.
He also points out that there are no other such supportive schemes for coconut farmers in Kerala at present and that it should be made available for all farmers without restricting its benefits to farmers in a particular area. According to him, just three years’ support under the scheme will be sufficient to a farmer to overcome the present crisis.
C.M. Jeevan, president of Kera Karshaka Sanghom, says memorandums seeking the extension of areas covered under the scheme have already been submitted to various government departments. “What we want is an equal sharing of benefits under the scheme to all eligible farmers,” he adds.
Agriculture Department officials say the State government is planning to set up only 79 Kera Gramams in the current fiscal by covering around 30,000 hectares. Due representation has been given to the district by selecting around 12 panchayats for the scheme, they add.
At present, coconut farmers in Perumanna, Cheruvannur, Nochad, Nanminda, Kattippara, Valayam, Velam, Kayakkodi, Moodadi, Chorode and Unnikulam panchayats are getting the benefits. Each of these villages will get ₹50 lakh as the first instalment to take up various coconut farming promotion initiatives.