The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : `Coconut production rising in Tamil Nadu'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 29, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

`Coconut production rising in Tamil Nadu'

Staff Reporter

Coimbatore: Production of coconut is "steadily increasing" year by year in Tamil Nadu, C. Ramasamy, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), said here recently.

About 100 scientists of the University participated in a two-day `Palm Scientists Meet' organised to take stock of research projects undertaken during the last two years, and also to plan research strategies for the forthcoming years.

Prof. Ramasamy said that coconut occupied a special place in the economy of the State, much similar to rice. The area under coconut cultivation and the number of nuts produced had been going up.

Tamil Nadu accounted for 14 per cent of the coconut production in 1950-51 and this had now risen to 28 per cent, with a production of 2,374 million nuts from about 407,000 hectares. Water scarcity and labour shortage were the main factors that hindered further increase in the cultivated area.

With coconut trees remaining largely unaffected by the tsunami, there was a great demand for coconut seedlings for large scale planting.

He said that scientists ought to carry out resistance breeding work in collaboration with other coconut research stations, in view of the entry of eriophyid mite and wilt pests from Kerala into Tamil Nadu. Labour-saving machinery and tools, especially coconut harvesters, could overcome shortage of workers.

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