Govt to seek Rs 330 cr from Centre for coconut growers

The withering of coconut plantation on 1.65 lakh hectares in Karnataka has prompted the State government to seek a Rs 330-crore package from the Centre for providing financial aid to the farmers.

Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Development Commissioner V Umesh and Horticulture Department Principal Secretary M K Shankarlinge Gowda told reporters in Bangalore on Wednesday that coconut palms cultivated across 15,789 hectares had completely withered and 1.49 lakh hectares of plantation had been partially damaged primarily due to consecutive drought for the past three years.

Gowda said the total loss due to the damage to the palms is estimated at Rs 600 crore.  The area under coconut palms in the State is 4.91 lakh hectares and the turnover due to sale of coconuts is Rs 2,000 crore per annum.

The Horiculture department has prepared a Rs 330-crore package (on a 50:50 cost sharing basis between the Centre and State) for the rejuvenation of plantations and to help farmers in distress.

The proposal will be placed before a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Revenue Minister V Srinivasa Prasad for approval, Gowda said. A Central team led by Union Horticulture Commissioner Gorak Singh recently visited the plantations in the affected districts and interacted with the farmers, Gowda said.

Pests such as black-headed caterpillar, diseases such as stem bleeding and ganoderma wilt had aggravated the crop loss in several pockets. Farmers would be encouraged to use hybrid varieties to increase the per hectare yield of coconut.

Another major cash crop affected due to disease is areacanut. The crop is cultivated across 2.3 lakh hectares and the disease had affected 1.38 lakh hectares resulting in losses to over 65,000 farmers. The estimated loss is Rs 789 crore, Umesh said.