"Global competitiveness in coconut products can be achieved only by increased productivity," Thomas said in his inaugural address at the five-day COCOTECH meeting of the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) here.
The potential of coconut as food and beverage crop has to be fully exploited, he said.
Consolidation of farmers at ground level and encouraging them to take up integrated management practices and farm level processing was needed to solve many issues haunting the coconut industry, he said.
Thomas added about 98 per cent of the coconut holdings in the country was less than two hectares. Sustainability of coconut industry was of paramount importance to provide price stability and remunerative price to farmers. Structural change in planting pattern of coconut trees, giving more importance to dwarfs and hybrids was also needed.
Thomas said about 35 per cent of Kerala's agricultural income was derived from coconut sector. The contribution of the crop to annual income of the state was around 15 per cent.
The minister said the Coconut Development Board (CDB) is working towards making India a world leader in production, productivity and processing for value addition for exports during the five year plan.
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The meeting will cover a comprehensive range of technical sessions and topics on success stories of model coconut farmers and small to medium scale coconut processors and entrepreneurs.
Representatives from some 20 countries are participating in the five-day meet.