BENGALURU: In another first for the state, Karnataka has become India’s largest producer of coconuts. The country’s coconut competition is dominated by southern states, and Karnataka has now pipped Kerala — the land of coconuts that had been the largest producer since 2016.
According to data from the Centre’s Coconut Development Board (CDB), Karnataka produced 595 crore coconuts in 2022-23, followed by Kerala with 563 crore. In 2021-22, Kerala produced 552 crore coconuts and Karnataka, 518 crore.
According to CDB’s provisional estimates for the first two quarters of 2023-24, Kerala slipped further on the chart. While Karnataka — with a production of 726 crore coconuts — remained in first place, Tamil Nadu (578 crore) pushed Kerala (564 crore) to third.
CDB is yet to publish the annual data for 2023-24
Even as Karnataka alone contributes 28.5% of India’s coconut production, CDB attributes this phenomenal success to the popular ‘weekend agriculture’ trend that is fast catching up across southern districts where coconut is predominantly cultivated. B Hanumanthe Gowda, chief coconut development officer of CDB, told TOI this trend gained popularity after 2018. Interestingly, three districts — Tumakuru, Hassan, and Mandya — contribute more than 80% of Karnataka’s coconut production.
“Even though Karnataka is still behind Kerala in actual area of coconut cultivation, it is the quality of cultivation that has helped it overtake other states. Second and third-generation farmers have evinced interest in coconut cultivation. Despite having steady-income jobs in urban centres, they are practising farming during weekends, helping the state scale up production. Constant exposure to scientific farming, supply of nutrition, and other best practices at events organised by CDB, agricultural universities, and Indian Institute of Horticultural Research-Hesaraghatta have helped them maintain their family orchards better over the years and obtain good yields,” Gowda explained.
Decline in Kerala
Senior CDB officials explained that on account of tourism activities, coconut cultivation has taken a back seat in Kerala. “While tourism became the centre of attraction with high reward, there was a considerable drop in production in the Andamans again due to a spurt in tourism activities. But in Karnataka, many youngsters took to coconut cultivation or scientific management of coconut farms, resulting in higher yields,” a technical officer of the board explained.
Officials also revealed that in the three major coconut-cultivating districts of Karnataka, it is largely small-scale farmers who have contributed to the rise in numbers. Even though sugarcane is gradually taking over across Mandya, the district still contributes considerably to the state’s production share. Similarly, Karnataka has also overtaken Kerala in ball copra production by accounting for 72.8% of India’s production.
