Coconut Development Board, (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India) in association with International Coconut Community (ICC), is organizing the two-day International Conference on Trade and Marketing of Coconut Products, in Hyderabad. The programme was inaugurated by Dr. Vijayalakshmi Nadendla chief executive officer, CDB in the presence of Dr. Jelfina C. Alouw, executive director, ICC; Dr. Reghunandan Rao, principal secretary and APC, Govt. of Telangana; Dr.P. Chandra Shekara, director General, MANAGE; Dr.Ramesh Mittal, director, CCS NIAM, Jaipur and  Bernie Ferrer Cruz, ICC National Liaison officer and administrator.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Vijayalakshmi Nadendla said that as per 2020 statistics of ICC, India is the largest coconut producing country in the world, with 30.93% share of global production, followed by Indonesia and Philippines. India ranks second in terms of productivity - 9,346 nuts per ha next to Vietnam 10,547 nuts per ha. The coconut crop contributes around Rs.307,956 million to the country’s GDP and earns export revenue of around Rs.75,768.80 million.

She informed that the Board undertakes market promotion activities for the development of the coconut sector in the country. The major activities comprise of Market Promotion, Market Intelligence, Market Research, Market Development, facilitating Farmers’ Collectives and performing the responsibilities of Export Promotion Council (EPC) and other enabling policies. Exports of coconut products during 2021-22 were valued at Rs.3236.83 crore as against Rs.2294.81 crore in 2020-21, registering a positive growth of 40.09% over the previous year.

She also pointed out that CDB started a novel extension approach to organize farmers by formation of three-tier Farmer Collectives with Coconut Producers’ Societies (CPS) at primary level and integrate them to form Coconut Producers’ Federation (CPF) at intermediate level and Coconut Producers’ Company (CPC) at apex level. So far, 9787 CPSs, 747 CPFs and 68 CPCs have been formed in the country.

The two days International conference will cover 4 sessions, on International Outlook for Coconut Products; Moving towards Sustainable Coconut Sourcing; Global Market Prospects and Growth Prospects for Coconut Products; and Innovative Industry Practices and Application of Technology in Coconut Sector, wherein 20 technical papers will be presented.

In this conference, more than 450 delegates joined virtually across the globe and 26 international delegates are participating physically.

Dr Jelfina C. Alouw, executive director, ICC, in her address, stressed about facilitating the transfer of technical information on global market prospects in coconut, innovative industry in coconut sector and sustainability in coconut sector.

Dr.Reghunandan Rao, principal secretary and APC, Govt. of Telangana, in his address, pointed out that Telangana is investing heavily on agriculture and there is a tremendous growth in the crop coconut. He said that the State is shifting from field crops to plantation crops.

Bernie Ferrer Cruz, ICC National Liaison officer and administrator emphasized the importance of coconut sector, which needs a breakthrough in market research, quality of coconut value added products and digital marketing.

On this occasion, the Diamond Jubilee issue of Indian Coconut Journal of CDB was released and an MOU was signed between CDB and National Institute of Agricultural Extension and Management (MANAGE) and National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) for carrying out activities in the areas of start ups, market driven projects, research, training programmes and FPOs.

Dr.Hanumanthe Gowda, chief coconut development officer proposed the vote of thanks.