Technology prioritization for improving coconut productivity in India
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Date
2004-12
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Abstract
Indian coconut sector faces daunting challenges in the present era of trade liberalization and globalization. Competitiveness through higher productivity is the theme of the strategies often suggested by researchers, planners and policy makers for overcoming the problems arising from the Agreement of Agriculture on WTO. For achieving the desirable level of productivity. the role of technology is crucial in the production. processing and marketing sectors of coconut industry. Though India is one of the largest producers of coconut in the world, with an average productivity of around 6800 nutsfha. it is also the largest consumer of coconut and its products. Due to increasing population and domestic demand for vegetable oils in India. the demand for coconut and its products is estimated to be double by 2025 AD. Strenuous research efforts for more than three decades by the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute as well as the State Agricultural Universities in the major coconut producing States of India have led to evolution of many technologies which are expected to increase the productivity in the productim and processing sectors to the desired level. At the same time, for sustained growth of production and productivity at micro jevel, efforts are also being taken by the Transfer of Technology Network consisting of the State Department of AgriculturelHorticulture in coordination with Development Boards and Institutional Credit Agencies. In spite of all these efforts, the growth in coconut productivity has not been sustained at the desired level. One of the major reasons for this could be the lack of prioritization of technologies to be transferred and their implementation. This paper reviews the existing scenario of coconut production in major producing zones and highlights the major problems in each of the zones and prioritizes the technologies for transferring and effective implementation at micro level for achieving sustained development in coconut production sector.
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Coconut productivity, Prioritization of technologies, Value addition
Citation
Journal of Plantation Crops 32(Suppl.) December 2004: 465 - 473