(a) whether the State Government of Kerala has made any representation for inclusion of
component for cut and removal of disease advanced Palms in Technology mission on Coconut;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the action taken in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (SHRI HUKUMDEO NARAYAN YADAV)
(a)&(b): Government of Kerala submitted a Memorandum in which it was sought to include
under Technology Mission on Coconut, a component for cutting and removal of root wilt disease
advanced 80 lakh coconut palms with financial assistance of Rs.200 crores over a period of 5
years. In addition, cutting and removal of 40 lakh senile coconut palms was also proposed
besides production of 120 lakh seedlings.
(c): The approved scheme of Technology Mission on Coconut has focus on technology
development, demonstration and adoption in the field of insect/pest and disease management;
processing and product diversification; and market research and promotion, having synergy and
integration of programmes. The Mission propose to bridge the gaps through appropriate new
programmes and to ensure adequate, appropriate, timely and concurrent attention to all links in
production, processing and product diversification etc. Under the Technology Mission on
Coconut only specific projects for development, demonstration and adoption of technologies,
other than routine programmes, are considered and approved by the Project Approval
Committee of the Coconut Development Board.
The Coconut Development Board, under the project integrated farming in coconut
holdings for productivity improvement, has so far provided Rs.53.27 crores since 1987-88 to
Government of Kerala mostly for cutting and removal of diseased coconut palms. This has
helped in decreasing the intensity of the rootwilt disease from 32.4 to 24.0 percent. The
problem of such a magnitude cannot be tackled only through the efforts of the Government by
providing compensation. Community movement seems to be essential to eradicate root wilt
disease affected coconut palms and mildly affected palms have to be managed with scientific
management practices to obtain high yields. This will require a strong extension system at the
State level. The State Government has been informed accordingly.