A Coconut Health Drink for the Revival of Coconut Farming Industry

Abstract

In India, coconut is cultivated by 10 million families with an annual production of 21.89 million nuts (2012-13). Coconut contributes Rs.10,000 crores annually to GDP. 90% of coconut production is from Kerala, TamilNadu, Karnataka and Andhra. In Kerala the coconut palm population is 1,800 lakhs (approx). Kerala produces 3,974,000 metric ton coconuts as per 2011-12 statistics. 30% is used for culinary purpose, 60% for oil and the remaining for ball copra. Though the figures give a positive picture of the coconut palm cultivation, the high cost of cultivation and the low price that the primary produce fetches leads to a decline in popularity of this sector. Coconut plantations were neglected for years while the over dependency on copra-coconut oil affected the profitability of farmers resulting in declaring this as a non-profitable enterprise. Coconut Development Board, realizing this decline lately, got alert in revitalizing this sector. It strongly advocated delinking copra-coconut oil dependency and focusing on more value added products, its commercialization and marketing for regaining and sustaining the lost glory of coconut palm cultivation. is the latest addition to this array of value added products which is a sweet, oyster- white colored sap tapped from the spathe of coconut palm. It is a delicious health drink, a rich source of sugars, minerals and vitamins with low Glycemic Index(GI 35). Neera is an unfermented drink and does not contain alcohol. Neera is also the raw material for many value added products like palm syrup, palm jiggery and palm sugar having high domestic and international demand for their high nutritional value and low Glycemic Index. Until February 2014, The Abkari Act of Kerala (Act 10 of 1967) contains definitions which wrongly included the zero alcohol Neera into Toddy and thus as Liquor which got corrected through 'Sweet toddy Neera rules 2014', lifting the challenge for entry by farmers into Neera extraction and processing. When only 10% of coconut palms in Kerala is subject to tapping Neera, the economic impact is phenomenal- Rs. 54,000 crores being contributed to GSDP, generation of 10 lakhs of rural employment, income of farmers around Rs. 27,000 crores and the tax income to the State around Rs. 4,050 crores. State government taking initiative and farmers willing to step forward does not clear the challenges ahead in branding, marketing, positioning and sustaining Neera. The competition from soft drink, health drink industry rivalry, the culture of the consumer generations and the evolving dynamics of the State administration is making the future of Neera more volatile, complex, uncertain and ambiguous.