Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Agriculture Minister, on Friday inaugurated the sixth State centre of Coconut Development Board in Gujarat and assured farmers that the opening of the CDB office will help in boosting coconut cultivation in that State.

Speaking at the 24th World Coconut Day celebrations, the Minister said the topography and the climatic conditions of Gujarat are congenial for growing coconut and the State is having a strong presence in the cultivation of coconut with around 25,000 farmers.

Gujarat is the eighth largest producer of coconut in the country which has an area of 24997 hectares under coconut cultivation, a production of 213.52 million nuts and a productivity of 8,542 nuts per hectare. Districts such as Kutch, Junagadh, Bhavnagar and Gir, Somnath have recorded productivity more than the national average of 9,430 nuts per hectare. Among the 33 districts, coconut is cultivated in 20 districts in Gujarat. 

Providing guidance

Addressing farmers at Junagadh Agricultural University, the Minister said the state centre of the Board will support coconut farmers by implementing various programmes of CDB, and provide guidance in scientific cultivation methods and processing and marketing of coconut.

The Minister also declared the national awards and export excellence awards of the Board.   

Speaking at a function organised in Kochi, K. Babu MLA stressed on the importance of coconut in Kerala and emphasized on the need for opening new avenues in the value addition of coconut for ensuring better remuneration to the farmers

N Vijayalakshmi , Chairperson, Coconut Development Board, welcomed the gathering and spoke on the status of coconut cultivation and processing in the country.

Jelfina C Alouw, Executive Director, International Coconut Community, Indonesia, made a brief presentation on the activities of the International Coconut Community and highlighted the health aspects of various coconut products.

The programme is followed by international workshop on Good Agricultural Practices, organized jointly by the Centre and International Coconut Committee till September 4.

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