Annual Report 2009-2010 - Department of Agriculture & Co-operation

Annual Report 2009-2010
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Application in Horticulture (NCPAH), involving 22
Precision Farming Development Centres
(PFDCs), SAUs, ICAR Institutes, and reputed
manufacturers.
13.18 Progress: Up to February, 2009, an area
of 3.90 lakh hectares has been covered involving
GoI assistance of Rs. 479.65 crore. Since
inception, an area of 17 lakh hectares has been
covered under micro-irrigation through drip and
sprinkler systems in the country.
13.19 An evaluation study of the scheme was
conducted by the NABARD Consultancy Service
(NABCON) during March 2009, which reported
the successful implementation of the scheme
and requirements of farmers for better water use
efficiency, to reduce fertilizer consumption,
labour and electricity cost, and to increase
productivity of crops for the benefit of the
farming community. Increase in productivity and
uniform maturity through the adoption of microirrigation
systems was documented in several
crops like banana (30 per cent) capsicum (35 per
cent), grapes (25 per cent), cotton and sugarcane
(50-90 per cent), etc.
13.20 Coconut Development Board (CDB): The
Coconut Development Board is a statutory body
set up by the Government of India for looking
after the integrated development of coconut
cultivation and industry in the country. Coconut
provides food and livelihood security to more
than 10 million people across 18 states and three
UTs in the country. There are five million coconut
holdings in the country, and the average size of
these holdings is less than one hectare. India
accounts for 15.65 per cent of area and 24.14
per cent of production in the world. According
to the all-India final estimate of 2007-08, India
recorded a production of 14.74 billion nuts from
an area of 1.90 million hectares, with an average
productivity of 7,747 nuts per hectare.
13.21 The thrust areas of the Coconut
Development Board are:
Production and distribution of quality
planting material;
Expansion of the area under coconut
cultivation, especially in potential and
non-traditional areas;
Improving the productivity of coconut in
major coconut producing states;
Developing technology in post-harvest
processing and marketing activities;
Integrated control of major pests and
diseases;
Product diversification and by-product
utilisation of coconut for value addition.
13.22 The major achievements of the CDB
during 2009-10 are:
1) To improve coconut production and
productivity, the DAC sanctioned a pilot
project for replanting and rejuvenation of
old and senile coconut gardens in
severely root (wilt) disease-affected
districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam,
and Thrissur in Kerala, and in the
Andaman and Nicobar islands, at a total
cost of Rs. 2,275.64 crore, and central
subsidy of Rs. 478.504 crore.
2) The board extended financial assistance
to the tune of Rs. 483.30 lakh on a project
basis for the creation of infrastructural
facilities for post-harvest processing,
product diversification, value addition,
market development, adoption of
improved packaging methods, etc. The
project has helped establish 18
processing units with an investment of
Rs. 12 crore and a capacity to process
121 million nuts per annum.