Anchor India 2014 Anchor India 2014 | Page 235

India is one of the largest producers of coconut in the world. Coconut in India is predominantly a small holders crop contributing to about Rs.83,000 million annually which is about 2% of the contribution of agriculture and allied sectors. More than 10 million farming families dependent on this crop for their livelihood. Even though a major producer of coconut, India consumes more than 50% of its coconut production of 15.84 billion nuts per annum as raw nuts for culinary and religious purposes. 35% of the production is utilized for conversion to copra, 11% for tender nut, 2% for seed purposes and hardly 2% is utilized for value addition and industrial purposes. As such there is a need for the country to devote more intensive research and ANCHOR INDIA coconut 233