The Hindu Business Line : Take up contract farming in coconut, States urged

THE Union Secretary for Agriculture and Cooperation, Ms Radha Singh, has urged state governments to explore ways of implementing contract farming in coconut cultivation. She was speaking to presspersons after inaugurating the National Seminar on Coconut, organised by the Coconut Development Board.

The contract farming is yet to take off in coconut cultivation. Though the Central government had long ago put forth the concept of contract farming, especially for the benefit of small coconut growers, no state had come forward to introduce it, Ms Singh said.

"There were no takers for the contract system probably because of the wrong notion among the farmers that they may lose their hold on the lands. Under the contract system, the farmers would only be selling their produce to a particular industry and they do not have to lease out their land to anyone," she said. There is a need to create awareness among farmers about the benefits of contract farming, she added.

The Karnataka's Development Commissioner, Mr Vijay Gore, said the State Government is studying the pros and cons of contract system in coconut farming so that the contracts do not get one-sided.

Ms Singh said a Rs 1,000-crore programme to promote micro-irrigation in the horticulture sector has been drawn up and is awaiting clearance from the Planning Commission. The main aim is to introduce micro-irrigation by encouraging drip-and-sprinkler irrigation to boost horticulture output.

Commenting on the incidence of mite attack on coconut, Ms Singh said the intensity had come down over the last few months. Except Karnataka, no other coconut-growing state had utilised the funds released for controlling mite and other diseases that had severely affected the production over the last few years.

In Kerala alone, about 20 million trees had been affected due to mite during the last three years. The need of the hour was re-plantation and the department's thrust was that it should be taken up in the most scientific way, she added.

Earlier, Ms Singh called on the growers to be competitive to face the free-trade regime by increasing productivity and bringing down the cost of production.

More Stories on : Coconut & Copra | Contract Farming | Karnataka

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Take up contract farming in coconut, States urged