India's coconut exports double in two years

Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Processing Sharad Pawar has said that India's exports of coc…

Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Processing Sharad Pawar has said that India's exports of coconut products had more than doubled from Rs 496 crore ($79,886,062 USD) in 2010-11 to Rs 1022 crore ($164,603,942 USD) in 2012-13.

Mr Pawar said India had the highest share of the world production of coconuts at 26.34 per cent. The country also had the highest productivity, with 10,736 nuts per hectare, he said.

He said that coconut is cultivated in 18 States and 3 union Territories of the country, with 90% of the total area under cultivation falling within the four southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These states also account for 91% of production in India.

The Minister said the Government had accorded high priority to the development of the coconut sector. The budgetary allocation for the Coconut Development Board had significantly increased to Rs 181 crore ($29,152,881 USD) in the current year, he said.

He said difficulties in the coconut sector could be mitigated and a fair, reasonable and steady price cold be ensured by product diversification through various modern technologies. As many as 259 coconut processing units with capacity to process 61 lakh nuts per day have been set up in the country with the financial assistance of Technology Mission on Coconut, he said.