Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar waters a coconut sapling during the launch of Kera Gramam project of Perumanna panchayat in Kozhikode on Sunday. | Photo Credit: K_RAGESH more-in The State government has come up with several projects to improve coconut production in Kerala by expanding the farming area, Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar has said. The farming area will be expanded from eight lakh hectares to 10 lakh hectares. The manufacture of value-added products from coconut would also be improved under the Coconut Mission project, the Minister said after the launch of the Kera Gramam project at Perumanna grama panchayat in Kozhikode on Sunday. Major changes had been brought to the employment guarantee scheme following the floods and the panchayats could make good use of the situation in the agriculture sector, the Minister said, adding that 40% of the scheme’s funds could be used in the sector. He directed the panchayats to form farmers’ collectives to coordinate activities in the sector. The Kera Gramam project is being implement by the Perumanna panchayat through the Department of Agriculture for the comprehensive development of coconut farmers. The ?50-lakh project aims at improved production in coconut farms in the panchayat. The State government will set up 79 Kera Gramams this year in 30,000 hectares of farming area. Cheruvannur, Nochad, Balussery, Nanmanda, Kattippara, Valayam, Velam, Kayakkodi, Moodadi, Chorode and Unnikulam are the other grama panchayats in Kozhikode that are implementing the project. P.T.A. Rahim, MLA, presided over the programme while Principal Agriculture Officer P.N. Jayasree presented the project report.

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