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| Thursday, 3 July 2003 |
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The Government is making an all-out attempt to develop the coconut industry, through a partnership of the state and the private sector in Sri Lanka, Minister of Plantation Industries, Lakshman Kiriella said, addressing the opening sessions of the 40th Cocotech meeting as chief guest at Hotel Trans Asia on Tuesday. He said "Sri Lanka being a founder member of the Asia and Pacific Coconut Community when it was established 34 years ago we are happy that the Cocotech sessions are being held in Sri Lanka this year." Addressing delegates from over 60 countries Minister Kiriella explained "Coconut is an important crop in the global economy with a total cultivated land area of over 12 million hectares and a total annual production exceeding 53 billion nuts. Coconut plays a triple role in economies of producing countries. It brings in - income to millions of people engaged in the industry, it earns foreign exchange and it provides a readily accessible food source for the local population of such countries. He observed "However, in most coconut growing countries, coconut as a commercial crop, faces many problems and challenges. The most serious problem faced by many countries, is the low level of productivity of coconut land, despite the tremendous advancement made in coconut research. In most producing countries, the average coconut farmer is a low income earner, with inadequate savings for re-investment in development and essential inputs for increased production. This is of serious concern, in terms of long-term economic viability and sustainability of this industry." Minister Kiriella informed the delegates "with a few exceptions, the average annual yield per hectare in most coconut growing countries remain below the level of 5000 nuts per ha. This is grossly inadequate in terms of optimum land utilisation and agricultural economies and has rendered coconut cultivation to the level of a subsistence crop. This invariably results in a "low input, low output" syndrome.Cocotech is the only regular and annual international technical forum for coconut and the theme of the current Cocotech sessions was "New Approaches to Coconut Product Diversification, Value Addition and Global Marketing of Coconut Products. |
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