Centre will support coconut farmers, says Union Minister Tomar

COIMBATORE:  Union Minister for agriculture and farmers welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said the union government is committed to support coconut farmers. Speaking at a meeting organized by Coconut Development Board at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Friday, he said that so far, 537 coconut processing units are supported by the Centre, of which 136 are in Tamil Nadu.

"India leads the coconut growing countries in production and productivity and holds third position in area under coconut. The production of coconut in India during 2021-22 was 19247 million nuts which accounts for more than 31% of the global production. The productivity was recorded at 9123 nuts per hectare. Our total area under coconut is 2.11 million ha," he said.  

"Tamil Nadu has a major share in coconut cultivation in India.  It is cultivated in 4.44 lakh hectares in the State with production of 5128.2 million nuts at the rate of 11526 nuts per hectare. The State accounts for 21% of cultivation area in the country and 26 % of production. Further, Tamil Nadu stands first in coconut processing and Coimbatore ranks at the top with 88,467 hectares," he added.

He said Tamil Nadu had the most number of units manufacturing innovative products viz.. activated carbon units, virgin coconut oil units, packaged tender coconut water units, spray dried coconut milk powder units and  coconut milk units are from the State.

Speaking at the event, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Minister MRK Paneerselvam said, "There is a demand from farmers that coconut oil should be distributed through ration shops. On the demand, we are consulting with the cooperative department to study the viable option for implementing it."