Rs. 35 million project to encourage coconut cultivation in home gardens

Stanley Seneviratne, Kurunegala North Group Corr.

KURUNEGALA: The Plantations Ministry will distribute 40,000 nursery coconut plants and 500 metric tonnes of fertiliser to 4,000 families free of charge during the year to encourage coconut cultivation in home gardens.

The estimated cost for the project is Rs. 35 million according to the Plantations Ministry. Plans are under way to initiate this project in the Central and North Western Provinces on May 5.

Initially, five coconut plants and a substantial amount of fertiliser will be distributed among a 100 selected families in the Central Province. The project will continue for three years and is expected to increase the annual revenue earned by the coconut industry to Rs. 50,000 million from the present Rs. 20,000 million.

The country's annual coconut production is recorded at nearly 3,000 million nuts, of which 80 per cent is used for domestic consumption. Even more dangerous is the fact that nearly 6,000 hectares of coconut land are being fragmented annually resulting in a loss of approximately 400,000 coconut trees annually.

However, the idea of the Plantation Ministry initiative is to increase the home coconut cultivation for local consumption to produce coconut by-products for exports on a large scale.