The Hindu Business Line : Vayalar project holds out hope for coconut farmers

THE three-year ADB-funded project to improve the lot of coconut farmers and coconut-based processors of Vayalar Panchayat in Alappuzha district is now emerging as a model for replication to develop the coconut-based economy of rural people.

Under the project, a community-based organisation, Vayalar Community Development Centre (VCDC), has been formed with the aim of increasing the income of poor coconut farmers.Started in July 2002, it is to be completed by this December.

According to Mr P.K. Thampan, President of the Kochi-based NGO Peekay Trees Corps Development Foundation, which is implementing the project, there is visible improvement in the lives of local people on account of the project. The venture is sponsored by the International Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT), Malaysia, with funding support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The project's objective is to address the problems that hindered the socio-economic progress of the community by implementing COGENT's three-pronged strategy, he said. They are one, increasing coconut yield and income by deploying high-yielding, high-value multi-purpose and adapted coconut varieties and hybrids using locally produced seed nuts. Second, increasing income by promoting the production and marketing of high-value products from the coconut meat, husk, shell, wood and leaves; and three, increasing food security and income per unit area and time through intercropping, livestock and fodder production.

The components of the strategy were taken up for implementation under the leadership of VCDC representing the coconut farmers, coir workers and those associated with the processing of coconut wood and shell. Potential beneficiaries based on household income were selected from each of the target groups for extending techno-economic support to accomplish the targeted objectives.

The community members from the households, numbering around 1,000, were devoid of opportunities to improve their skill and knowledge in production technologies and in product utilisation for value addition. This problem has been addressed by organising training programmes for the benefit of the project's potential beneficiaries, Mr Thampan said. Experts from each discipline drawn from different R&D institutions have imparted training.

The financial support envisaged in the project is in the form of micro-credit. Except for training support, no services are free but are linked to a micro-credit scheme. The unique feature of this is that potential beneficiaries who are poor and not the accepted clientele of the existing institutional agencies could avail themselves of micro-credit for generating higher income by starting new enterprises or by strengthening the existing ones that are languishing for want of funds. The operational system put into effect by the VCDC is so simple that the borrowers do not experience any difficulty in availing themselves of the credit, he said.

VCDC's activities were strengthened in production and marketing as well. Techno-economic support was extended mainly for creating basic infrastructure.

On the production side, the activities included the production of quality copra using indirect dryers and high-value product such as coconut water-based vinegar, kernel-based products, and timber and shell-based products, through women's groups and farmers' societies.

Under the aegis of farmer's societies and one of the women's groups, six indirect copra dryers have been established with the financial support of VCDC for processing about 6,500 coconuts at a time. Steps are on to link this with a virgin coconut oil production unit and one husk-processing unit. At present, the copra produced is crushed in private mills and the oil marketed in consumer packing. For husk processing, VCDC plans to establish an environment-friendly fibre extraction unit for producing adequate quantity of fibre to satisfy the local demand for raw material. Steps have been initiated to mobilise funds internally to supplement project funds, Mr Thampan said.

The community is, in fact, credited with having mobilised substantial funds internally by way of membership fee, donations and contributions to supplement project funds, he said.

The community had also taken initiatives to develop coconut diversity through identifying special varieties or ecotypes within Vayalar village and their multiplication on community-sponsored nurseries, he said.

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