Coconut Board Registration

Traditionally, coconut was grown for edible oil. It served as an ingredient for various industrial applications too. The changed food habits and availability of other cheaper edible oils both in the edible and industrial sectors, however, have brought out a drastic decline in the use of coconut oil in these areas. During the last few years, on account of heavy imports of cheaper vegetable oil, especially of the Palmolein, the price of coconut oil has been depressed despite the large-scale price support operations undertaken. The Price Support Scheme could not make much impact in pushing up the price level and was not beneficial to the farmers as expected. In this context, it was realized that diversification of coconut derived products and value addition could only help the coconut growers in getting remunerative prices. The coconut crop has also been affected by severe pests and debilitating diseases like root-wilt, ganoderma wilt, Thanjavur wilt and Tatipaka disease. It was realized that a major initiative should be started towards controlling the pests and diseases in coconut to improve its productivity and promote product diversification on better value realization from various coconut products. This will help the small and marginal farmers who depend on coconut for their livelihood to realize better returns.