The Coconut Cultivation Board is making its contribution to increase the coconut harvest to 4,000 million nuts by 2025 with a view to increasing the export income, said Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB) Chairperson A.V.K. Madhavi Herath.
She said that due to the commitment of all the stakeholders in the coconut industry including the Coconut Cultivation Board, the coconut harvest recorded the highest quantity of nuts in history, which was 3,382 million coconuts. During the past few years, the harvest was around 2,600 million coconuts.
Seventy percent of the harvest is locally consumed.
She made these observations when she visited Marawila on a programme to increase coconut cultivation recently.
She said further that 30 percent of the harvest is used for other products and export. Hence in 2021, coconut export earn an income of US$ 834 million. The demand for coconut in the world market is so high that we are still not in a capacity to meet it, Herath said.
She said further that there are approximately 60 million coconut trees in the country and already a number of coconut plants have been cultivated to collect a considerable harvest by 2025.
However there are many measures being taken to increase the harvest. She added that most of the people have very little knowledge on how to increase the harvest of their plantations.
Hence the knowhow is provided to them in addition to the fertilizer. Most of the cultivation has not enough water to increase the cultivation during the dry season. Hence many schemes have been introduced to provide them with equipment to water the plants as well.
Herath said that coconut saplings are provided to the Army to plant in the lands of the Army.
She also said that attention has been drawn to extend the coconut cultivation in the Central Province and the Northern and Eastern Provinces. She added that as a token of brotherhood and friendship coconut saplings should be taken to the North and East.
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