World Coconut Day celebration in Odisha On September 2
31 August, Thiruvananthapuram
Coconut Development Board (CDB) will distribute its National Awards in various categories on September 2 on the occasion of World Coconut Day celebration at Bhubaneswar in Odisha.
All coconut growing countries in the Asia and Pacific region observe September 2 as World Coconut Day every year. This is an occasion to review policies and formulate plan of action in this sector. Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) theme for the World Coconut day 2016 is ‘Coconut, the tree of life Sustains family wel lbeing’, a press statement said here Wednesday.
Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh will distribute the awards at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology. Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of state Petroleum and Natural Gas, will preside over the function.
CDB has instituted a scheme of National Awards to recognize and promote excellence in coconut cultivation, innovative methods in coconut farming, product development, product improvement, quality improvement, product diversification and marketing, export and skill development.
The foundation day of the Asia and Pacific Coconut Community, an inter-governmental organization is observed as the World Coconut Day in the member countries. APCC, whose mission is to promote, coordinate and harmonize all activities of the coconut industry, at its 25th session held in November 1998 in Vietnam decided that September 2, the day APCC was established be designated as the World Coconut Day.
The objective of observing coconut day is to create increased awareness and importance of coconut and help focus national and international attention to this crop and to enhance its potential to alleviate poverty, encourage investment in the sector and promote the total development of coconut industry in the producing countries. Around 400 farmers from all coconut growing states will take part in the function. An exhibition has also been arranged at the venue showcasing latest technologies in coconut sector and various value added coconut products.
A technical session on theme topic is also arranged after the inaugural session which will be chaired by Dr. P. Chowdappa, Director CPCRI, Kasargod. In Odisha, coconut is cultivated in an area of 50679 ha with a production of 324.5 million nuts and productivity of 6404 nuts per ha. The state occupies fifth position in coconut production in India. Coconut is an important source of earning livelihood to the people of Odisha, especially in the coastal areas. More than 60 per cent of the coconut production in Odisha comes from 5 districts like Puri, Ganjam, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Khurda. Ninety nine percent of the coconut cultivated in the Odisha is traditional tall coconut variety (Sakhigopal Local).
Pradeep Maharathy, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development, Govt. of Odisha, Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General ICAR, S K Pattanayak IAS, Secretary, Dept. of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India, Manoj Ahuja IAS, Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Odisha, Dr. Prasanna Kumar Patasani, Member of parliament(Lok Sabha), Thottta Narasingham, MP and Member CDB, will be the Guests of Honour. Dr.A.K.Singh, Chairman, CDB will deliver welcome address on the occasion.