Regularise coconut trade - CGASL

by Elmo Leonard

Armed robbery on coconut estates, mainly in the Puttalam district continues unabated, the incoming president of the Coconut Growers' Association of Sri Lanka (CGASL) Nimal Samarakkody said. Also, theft of other agricultural produce and livestock, mainly in urban and semi-urban settings goes on, unchecked. Consequently, owners are forced to sell high-value plantations and buy land in safer rural settings.

In a bid to contain theft, CGASL comprising 1000 members will request government to regularise the coconut trade, on the lines which cover tea and rubber. With it, all trade in coconuts and processed products will require registration with the Coconut Development Authority (CDA) or the Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB).

When checks are made, people having coconuts or coconut products in their possession will have to furnish receipts for it, as a means of discouraging robbery. The police have also been asked to enforce the law strictly, Samarakkody said.

The trend of declining earnings from coconut plantations, continues, much unlike the gainful income from tea and rubber. If this trend is allowed to continue, it will lead to coconut growers shifting to other crops, or neglecting their plantations completely.

All that will in turn lead to the decline of the industry, Samarakkody said. To keep the coconut industry viable, CGASL, has decided on, ensuring a minimum farmgate price. To do this, more CGASL members are being encouraged to enter the CDA organised coconut auctions.

Avenues for dispersing crops will be broadened. Government is being requested to do away with VAT on coconut oil, encouraging the processing of pure coconut oil and white copra, opposed to the mixes of imported and local oil, now feeding the mass market for vegetable oil.

In this way, prices will rise, and with it, worker wages, Samarakkody said. CGASL will urge government to lease out parcels of over 40, 000 acres of coconut plantations owned and managed by state organisations which yield around 1500 coconuts per acre. Such land should be given under strict conditions of increasing yield, within an agreed time frame, Samarakkody said.

The Coconut Research Institute (CRI) will also be asked to contain or eradicate the coconut pest, raging in the country, more vigorously, Samarakkody said.

CGASL is also urging government to simplify procedures for intercropping on coconut lands with varieties of plants which could be used as organic fertiliser. This will help improve poor soil conditions, consequent to prolonged use of inorganic fertiliser.

CGASL is also encouraging the propagation of high-yield varieties of coconut, resistant to pests and disease.

CGASL will facilitate the formation of a federation of all stakeholders and state organisations concerned with the industry. Such a body is also intended to advise government on decisions which would be of common interest to the sector, Samarakkody said.

The CGASL president encouraged mechanisation of the coconut growing sector, due to an acute shortage of workers. Baur and Co and CIC undertakes contracts to pluck coconuts and other basic labour activity.

An exhibition of mechanical equipment needed on coconut estates, was held recently to encourage coconut growers to mechanise. Coconut growers are also being urged to turn out organic coconut products and an experienced person in the field, Nimal Henadheera made a presentation on the subject.

Currently, CGSAL has regional associations in the Gampaha district and the southern areas of the island and hopes to extend such associations to include other coconut growing areas, with each taking up problems common to it, Samarakkody said.