ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) is exploring measures to bring down input cost in coconut production so as to make its cultivatiom viable and cost effective.

The cost of production currently is Rs 12 per nut due to costs such as labour, fertiliser, irrigation and harvesting. This has to be brought down on a par with other producing countries, said K. B. Hebbar, Director, CPCRI.

“We are going to use Artificial Intelligence and ICT technologies to make coconut production cost-effective. We have already started using drones and developing sensors to determine the maturity stage of pest infestation and health of trees so that corrective measures can be taken,” he told businessline in a chat.

Hebbar, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the Coconut Development Board, said India’s coconut production in the last few years had declined slightly on account of a host of factors, including pests and diseases, climatic variations and drought. The sector also faces challenges due to climate change, skilled manpower shortage, international competition, high production cost and price fluctuation.

At CPCRI, he said “we have reoriented our research to tackle these problems to bring a level playing field for the coconut sector vis-a-vis other producing countries.

CPCRI is in the process of developing short to medium height coconut trees, which will be climate resilient and amenable to processing, especially Neera and other value-added products. In Kerala, most of the trees are old and tall that require skilled tappers to climb.

To a question, he said price fluctuations in coconut are cyclical, but the rates have now started moving up. Urging farmers to look at product diversification in a big way, he said value addition is only 8-9 per cent in India and it needs to be increased by at least 20 per cent to make coconut farming a profitable venture. Value addition would be highly profitable when raw nut prices rule lower.

Hebbar, who was in Kochi to flag off the first export consignment of Neera to the US, said India is the first coconut producing country to ship Neera with the technology developed by CPCRI to collect, process, pack and dispatch the product abroad. Lack of such technology in other coconut producing countries has forced them to confine themselves to their domestic markets.

The future looks bullish for the coconut sector in India considering consumer awareness on the health benefits of the nut. However, the need of the hour is to focus on value addition to keep the industry afloat, he added.

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