Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurates National Stakeholders Meet on Coconut Promotion Scheme in Chennai
Union Minister for Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan today inaugurated the National Stakeholders meet on the Coconut Promotion Scheme and interacted with the farmers at the Indian Institute of Technology–Madras Research Park, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
In his speech, the Minister said that the Coconut promotion scheme envisaged a holistic and integrated approach to address key structural challenges in the sector, including declining productivity, ageing and senile plantations, pest and disease incidence, shortage of quality planting material and limited value addition.
He said that major interventions proposed under the scheme included large-scale production of quality coconut seedlings, expansion of coconut cultivation in potential areas, phased replanting and rejuvenation of senile and unproductive gardens, adoption of holistic crop health management practices, and establishment of integrated coconut processing units to strengthen value addition and exports.
During the meet, State Governments presented state-wise strategies and interventions, followed by interactive sessions with farmers, FPOs, researchers and entrepreneurs, providing a platform for grassroots feedback, experience sharing and policy refinement. The event was aimed to build national consensus and foster Centre -State convergence and mobilising stakeholder participation for the successful rollout of the Coconut Promotion Scheme with the larger vision of transforming India into a global leader in coconut and coir product exports by the 2030s while ensuring higher incomes, sustainability and resilience for coconut farmers. Over a thousand farmers, farmer producer organisations, researchers, entrepreneurs and policy stakeholders participated in the conference.
