COCONUT FARMERS IN KERALA

COCONUT FARMERS IN KERALA

        Coconut had been a prime source of income of many families in Kerala for long, but situation has changed drastically in recent years. Scarcity of skilled labour and pest attacks have dealt a had blow to the prospects of the crop.

        Escalating labour cost has been one of the major factors that uprooted the confidence of the coconut farmer. The influx of money from non-resident keralites up set the traditional structure of labour charges. Many farmers turned away from coconut farming and switched over to rubber, lured by hand some prices it fetched.

        The farmers in Tamil Nadu benifited from the change. The escalation  in labour cost  has been less in the neighbouring state and the farming operations continue to thrive there.The area under coconut cultivation in Kerala is 818.8 hectares. The prodctivity is only 5,641 nuts an hectare, according to figures from the coconut Development Board(CDB). In Tamil Nadu, with an area of 383 hectares under coconut production, the productivity is 12,959 nuts on hectares. The area under production in Karnataka is 405 hectares and productivity 4,037 nuts.

        The analysis of the price of coconut oil at all major markets in Kerala during April 2010 also revealed that the average prices were about 3 percent lower than the prices in January 2009.

        The coconut Development Board has been charting out programmes to widen the base of products for export. Virgin coconut oil, activated carbon and packaged tender coconut water are among prominent export products.

        The coir industry, closely linked with the coconut based agri- business, has also recorded higher exports. The export- oriented coir producation sector, located in Ambalapuzha and cherthala in Alapuzha district is facing problems arising out of scarcity of raw meterial and shortage of labours.

Prof. John Kurakar