Nalin Kumar Kateel, Dakshina Kannada MP, said on Tuesday that he is pursuing a proposal to set up a special agricultural zone in the district.
Mr. Kateel, who is a member of a standing committee on agriculture in Parliament and also a member of the Union government’s Coconut Development Board, said that he has asked an agricultural scientist to draft a proposal to this effect.
Once it is ready, he will pursue the same with the government for creating the zone.
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He was addressing coconut growers at Ganjimath near here.
The growers had come together in connection with floating a farmers’ company for promoting coconut cultivation and its value-added products such as neera (a sweet sap from its palm), sugar, jaggery, desiccated coconut, virgin coconut oil and the like.
Sanjeeva Naik, Assistant Director of Horticulture, said that two coconut growers’ federations have been formed and registered in the district in Mangaluru and at Bantwal.
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The process of forming federations in Puttur, Belthangady and Sullia was under progress.
If a company was to be formed it required a share capital of Rs. 5 crore and initially 1,000 farmer members were required. The government would provide Rs. 40 lakh as seed money to the company to start activities.
Mr. Naik said that by extracting neera, a grower could earn Rs. 10,000 per palm per year.