Kakinada: Coconut Farmers Forum has demanded that central and state governments declare the year 2026 as the Coconut Year to create awareness among people about coconut products and the healthy nutrients the nut contains.
The demand emerged at the All India Coconut Farmers’ Conference organised by the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), Konaseema branch, at Amalapuram in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district. The conference passed 21 resolutions on coconut issues.
Farmers representatives from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and other states participated in the meeting.
Apart from other things, the forum requested the union Railways ministry to provide railway wagons to transport coconut products from Konaseema and other areas throughout the country at subsidised freight charges, conduct research to develop machinery harvesting coconuts, introduce yield and weather-based insurance for coconut crop, measures to significantly increase the consumption of coconut and encourage dwarf varieties of coconut.
BKS all India general secretary Mohini Mohan Misra was the chief guest at the conference. All India Coconut Forum secretary Sundar Rajan (Tamil Nadu), BKS senior leader J. Kumara Swamy, state president P. Veera Raghavulu, and Bharatiya Agro Coconut Research Centre-state convener T. Gopalakrishna were among those present at the conference.
