The programme was inaugurated by Dr. Vijayalakshmi Nadendla Chief Executive Officer, CDB in the presence of Dr. Jelfina C. Alouw, Executive Director, ICC; Dr. Reghunandan Rao, Principal Secretary and APC, Govt. of Telangana; Dr. P. Chandra Shekara, Director General, MANAGE; Dr. Ramesh Mittal, Director, CCS NIAM, Jaipur and Bernie Ferrer Cruz, ICC National Liaison Officer and Administrator.
Dr. Vijayalakshmi Nadendla stated in her opening remarks that according to ICC 2020 statistics, India is the world's largest coconut producing country, accounting for 30.93% of global production, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines. In terms of productivity, India ranks second with 9,346 nuts per ha, trailing only Vietnam with 10,547 nuts per ha. The coconut crop contributes approximately Rs.307,956 million to the country's GDP and generates approximately Rs.75,768.80 million in export revenue.
She stated that the Board engages in market promotion activities to help the country's coconut sector grow. Market Promotion, Market Intelligence, Market Research, Market Development, facilitating Farmers' Collectives, and carrying out the responsibilities of the Export Promotion Council (EPC) and other enabling policies are the main activities. Coconut product exports in 2021-22 were valued at Rs.3236.83 crore, up from Rs.2294.81 crore in 2020-21, representing a 40.09% increase over the previous year.
She also mentioned that CDB began a novel extension approach to organizing farmers by forming three-tier Farmer Collectives with Coconut Producers' Societies (CPS) at the primary level and integrating them to form the Coconut Producers' Federation (CPF) at the intermediate level and the Coconut Producers' Company (CPC) at the apex level. In total, the country has formed 9787 CPSs, 747 CPFs, and 68 CPCs.
The 2 days international conference will include 4 sessions: International Outlook for Coconut Products; Moving Toward Sustainable Coconut Sourcing; Global Market Prospects and Growth Prospects for Coconut Products; and Innovative Industry Practices and Application of Technology in the Coconut Sector, with a total of 20 technical papers presented.
More than 450 delegates from all over the world have registered for this conference, and 26 international delegates are attending in person. In her address, Dr. Jelfina C. Alouw, Executive Director, ICC, emphasized the importance of facilitating the transfer of technical information on global market prospects in coconut, innovative industries in the coconut sector, and sustainability in the coconut sector.
Dr. Reghunandan Rao, Principal Secretary and APC, Government of Telangana, stated in his address that Telangana is investing heavily in agriculture and that the crop coconut is growing rapidly. According to him, the state is transitioning from field crops to plantation crops. Bernie Ferrer Cruz, ICC National Liaison Officer and Administrator, emphasized the importance of the coconut sector, which requires advances in market research, the quality of coconut value-added products, and digital marketing.
On this occasion, the Diamond Jubilee issue of CDB's Indian Coconut Journal was published, and an MOU was signed between CDB and the National Institutes of Agricultural Extension and Management (MANAGE) and Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) to carry out activities in the areas of start-ups, market-driven projects, research, training programmes, and FPOs. The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Hanumanthe Gowda, Chief Coconut Development Officer.
