The Coconut Development Board-initiated insurance scheme promises financial protection to the coconut growers in India during calamities
 Coconut growers in India can heave a sigh of relief now. In an initiative to ensure security of the coconut farmers in the country, the Agricultural Insurance Company of India Limited has come up with insurance schemes for coconut growers. India is one of the chief coconut producing countries in the world accounting for almost 13 billion coconuts, which is more than that of Indonesia and the Philippines, the two other major coconut producing countries in the world.
Objective
The recently launched insurance scheme is an initiative of the Coconut Development Board (CDB), which aims to financially protect coconut growers across the country. Talking on this score with a FoodProcessing360 correspondent, Chandrasekhair VG, statistical officer at CDB, said, “It is a new scheme to assist the coconut growers and has been implemented on a pilot basis in four places namely Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal and Goa. The scheme will help in protecting the farmers during crises such as famine, drought, pest attacks and other calamities.”
Features
As per the clauses of the scheme, a farmer is required to pay very less premium for the scheme. In fact, the payment of the premium would be shared by the respective Horticulture or Agriculture Departments of the state governments, CDB and the coconut growers. “Under the scheme, the grower will have to pay only one-fourth of the premium amount and the remaining will be shouldered jointly by the respective Horticulture or Agriculture Departments of the state governments and CDB. This reduces the financial burden on the farmers and also encourages them to opt for the scheme,” opines K N Rao, deputy general manager of AIC.
According to the scheme, the insurance amount for a tree, which is between its 4th and 15th year will be Rs 600. For trees falling within the age group of 16-60 years, the amount is fixed at Rs 1,150.
Coconut growing states in India
Coconuts are mostly grown in the coastal regions of the country such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Maharashtra and Pondicherry. Scattered coconut cultivation is also carried out in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
In India, Kerala is the leading coconut producing state followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the second, third and fourth positions, respectively.
Shalmoli Kundu |
