India today urged the major coconut growing countries to extend a 'helping hand' to less developed coconut farmers in less developed countries.
In his inaugural address at the 51st Asia Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) Session Ministerial meeting, Minister of State for Agriculture Mohanbhai Kalyanji Bhai Kundariya said the seven major coconut growing countries in the world should extend a helping hand.
"Now it is time that these major coconut growing countries should extend a helping hand to less developed coconut farmers in less developed countries. Unless all of us come togther, our progress will be limited", he said.
He urged Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) to play a lead role in increasing production and productivity, augment production of good quality planting material, aggregation of the product for primary processing, better byproduct utilisati utilisation and value addition through marketing and exporting.
Pointing out that the Union government's 'Make in India' campaign offered enormous opportunities for FPOs in the coconut sector to conquer the global market, he said this was a golden opportunity which farmers should make use of.
Coconut is grown in 12.4 million hectares and annual world production is about 70- 72 billion nuts. The benefits of improved technology are not reaching coconut farmers and hence efforts should be directed towards improving their share in monetary terms, the minister said.
Export of coconut products, excluding coir products in 2013-14 touched Rs 1,156 crore. The total foreign exchange earnings from this crop, which was Rs 2318 crore in 2012-13, increased to Rs 2,632 crore in 2013-14, he said.
The minister hoped that the session would review the global coconut situation and hold deliberations on specific issues in coconut cultivation, processing marketing and trade to evolve an appropriate policy for development of the sector.
