COMPREHENSIVE COCONUT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Funding Agency: Alappuzha and Kollam District panchayats, Kerala Agricultural University and CED.

In Kerala, Coconut cultivation faces serious problems due to various diseases like root will, leaf blight etc for the last several years. A number of studies and programmes had been conducted to find solution to these problems but couldn’t succeed. One of the aspects, which were not considered in any of these studies, is the environmental factor that may have crucial role in determining the health of the plant. Considering all these factors, a joint project has been designed to study the various environmental factors affecting the life of coconut trees and to formulate programmes for enhancing the production of coconuts. As in GALASA programme in the case of paddy, a locale – specific intervention strategy has been choked out in the case of coconut also. The project has just initiated and is being implemented in three selected panchayats of Onattukara region in Kuttanad.