'Diversification will boost coconut price'

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 13. One of the reasons for coconut prices plummeting sharply this season in Karnataka and neighbouring States is the lack of product diversification, according to Dr. P.K. Thampan, coconut technologist.

Participating in a discussion on the coconut mite attack and neera tapping, organised by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), Dr. Thampan said that while in India copra, oil and coir were the only products available from the coconut farming sector, the Philippines, and to some extent Indonesia, were leaders in a host diverse products which they exported to America, Australia and Europe.

These products included jaggery and sugar from toddy, and ``coco- chemicals'' which had wide-ranging applications. Toddy-tapping in the Philippines, in fact, had proved to be a boon for diversification, as, among other things, it helped increase yields by 30 per cent when the palms were rested adequately. The coconut yield too increased considerably when combined with toddy tapping.

A recent survey had shown that, in India, toddy tapping ensured a net profit of Rs. 1,000 from each palm annually, Dr. Thampan said. He also suggested that farmers' organisations and women's groups could exploit coconut production by manufacturing chips, vinegar, coconut milk and by-products such as bread-spread.

Swami Bhaktitheerta, Satsang Samaj, Belgaum, who also participated in the workshop where queries by farmers about the mite attack on coconut palms were addressed, said if the Government did not withdraw the decision to ban toddy tapping within a month, he would launch a dharna before the Vidhana Soudha.

The KRRS President, Prof. M.D. Nanjundaswamy, condemned the Government for undermining the livelihood of the coconut growers, and repeatedly playing favourites by encouraging the liquor lobby. ``Instead of helping the farmers reeling under crop failure due to pest attacks, the Government is delivering a double blow,'' he said.

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