Summary:
As per the procedure, coconut farmers with about 4,000 to 10,000 coconut trees in a geographically well-defined area can form a coconut producer society (CPS). Earlier this year, a meeting of coconut farmers in the block was conducted by the department to determine their preparedness for tapping neera. The farmers were enthusiastic about the schemes of the Coconut Development Board for ensuring steady income generation through tapping neera. In Nagapattinam district, neera production process will take considerable time, as cold storage and other infrastructure facilities needed to be developed in rural areas, the official said. Coconut producers’ federations (CPF) to which licences are issued by CPS for neera production are formed out of aggregation of 20 to 25 CPS units..