A.P. coconut growers lobby for ‘neera’

Coconut growers in Andhra Pradesh are lobbying for tapping of neera, the sap from the coconut palm, to be made legal. But since it is governed by the Excise Act, the State Government has to weigh the possibilities of it being used to make alcoholic beverages.

Collected from the unopened coconut inflorescence, neera is a sweet liquid that is touted as a ‘health drink’ but its tapping is not permitted in A.P. under the Andhra Pradesh Excise Act 1968, which lumps it under the definition of toddy. Lured by the vast potential for marketing the product in various forms, farmers are lobbying for it to be liberated from that law, as has been done in Kerala, the lead state in exploiting coconut products.

In A.P., however, the coconut sector has been constrained by excise rules and the industrial base of the sector is limited to the production of copra.

Coconut lobbyists say neera can be bottled or sold in tetrapacks, as Kerala has done. In addition, it can yield honey, syrup, coconut collocates and vinegar, if only the government permitted it.

A senior official from the Coconut Development Board (CDB) said, “If only 10 per cent of the coconut palms in Andhra Pradesh are tapped, neera can contribute Rs. 4800 crore to the State’s GSDP at the rate of Rs. 100 per litre and generation of over one lakh jobs in rural areas.”

According to him, companies in Kerala started processing and marketing neera and its value-added products after the government exempted it from the Excise Act, and so currently 1.14 lakh litres of neera is being tapped and processed by farmer producers every month. Both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have taken the lead from Kerala and exempted neera from the excise act.

A coconut palm yields on an average of two litres of neera a day which may go up to five litres based on the health and management of the palm. A team of senior officials from the departments of horticulture, prohibition and excise will be visiting Kerala in the second week of September to conduct a detailed study on the production and distribution of neera.

Based on a report submitted by the team, the government will a take a decision on the matter, according to Horticulture Department deputy director C.B. Harinath Reddy.