OdishaPlus Bureau
- Number of coconut based industries to be doubled by 2022
- Government to open 10,000 FPO across the country
Twenty first World Coconut Day was observed by Coconut Development Board (CDB) at the KIIT auditorium here Monday. Addressing the occasion as the Chief guest Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar assured additional assistance to the cyclone Fani devastated farmers of Odisha apart from the support of Rs 29.659 crores by CDB.
“We are pretty much aware about the plight of the coconut farmers in the state. We are eager to extend more help to them. The state government should follow the due process so that we can grant more funds by CDB and the Agriculture Ministry of Government of India,” Tomar assured.
He emphasized about the importance of coconut farming in the agricultural sector of the country. “More than one crore farmers of the country are engaged in coconut farming and it comprises of the 33% total coconut farming in the world. Government is committed to empowering the agriculture sector in the country to add to the GDP. In order to achieve this, the coconut farming needs more attention,” he added.
Shri Tomar insisted that more value addition of coconut could be done and it needs to be augmented. He also harped on the proper marketing facilities to commercialise the farming. “Government of India has decided to open 10,000 FPO across the country. CDB is also playing a great role for skill development of the farmers. So far 484 coconut based industries have been set up across the country with the support of Government of India. We are on a mission to double it till 2022. We want more and more educated farmers to come with start-ups and grow in the country,” he mentioned.
“The government is committed to achieve five Trillion economy and for that the income of the farmers need to be doubled. In this respect the centre has doubled the MSP. We are also giving Rs 6,000 assistance to every farmer of the country under PM Kishanyojana and we will want more farmers of the state to get the benefit,” he signed off.
Around 500 farmers from all coconut growing states across the country and coconut based entrepreneurs participated in the programme. The technical session handled by subject matter specialists focused on creating awareness on the goodness of coconut and also for equipping the farmers with latest and up to date scientific practices of coconut management, processing, value addition and export. An exhibition showcasing various innovative value added products of coconut and latest technologies in coconut sector was also held. Four leaflets of CDB were inaugurated By Shri Tomar on this occasion.
Among others Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Minister, Government of Odisha Dr. Arun Kumar Sahoo, Bhubaneswar North MLA Susant Kumar Rout, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India Sanjay Agarwal, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of OdishaSaurabhGarg and CDB Chairperson V Usha Rani were also present.