Abstract
Neera-the coconut inflorescence sap has been promoted as a potential value-added non-alcoholic beverage with abundant health benefits. The concerted effort of the stakeholder agencies could liberate the product from the policy regulations on its production under the excise act (known as ‘Abkari act’ in Kerala). Subsequently, the coconut producer federations (CPFs) in the State were granted licenses for ‘neera’ production and marketing. However, the majority of the CPFs discontinued the ‘neera’ enterprise, which they have initiated with greater enthusiasm. The present study is a modest attempt to trace the reasons for setbacks experienced in the ‘neera’ sector and also to provide a refined framework for revamping the sector. The details of licenses granted to the CPFs were sourced from the Department of Excise, Government of Kerala. The sample size of the study was 95 (13 CPFs who are still active and 82 CPFs who have discontinued). It was observed that the ‘neera’ value chain is in the evolving stage, and the withdrawal of the institutional support had detrimentally affected the confidence of the CPFs ventured into it. The availability of ‘neera’ technicians (tappers) and the high wage rates have evoked concerns on the profitability as well as the assurance of continuous supply of the product. The study categorically highlights the need for a restructured value chain of ‘neera’ with specific roles assigned to the stakeholders through the creation of functional linkages.
Highlights
Indian agrarian system is dominated by smallholder farming, where the average size of farm holdings is only 1.08 ha (Gulati and Juneja, 2019)
Excise Department (ii) grant permission for Coconut Producer Societies (CPSs)/ coconut producer federations (CPFs) facilitated by Coconut Development Board (CDB) to start more than one ‘neera’ production units in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts and one ‘neera’ unit each in all the remaining districts in the State on trial basis (iii) give priority for palm climbers in ‘toddy’ sector for tapping coconut palms for ‘neera’ production; if sufficient skilled climbers are not available, organize training programme to train ‘neera’ technicians and enrol them in ‘toddy’ tappers welfare fund and (iv) establish a Toddy-Neera Board for the development of the sector
Coconut Producer Company (CPC) not formed in the area of CPF functioning to manage the marketing of ‘neera.’
Summary
Indian agrarian system is dominated by smallholder farming, where the average size of farm holdings is only 1.08 ha (Gulati and Juneja, 2019). It is worthwhile to analyze the present scenario of producer organizations involved in the production and marketing of ‘neera’ in the coconut sector for evolving strategies to revamp the sector In this backdrop, the present study was conducted to analyze (i) the status of FPOs in coconut sector (ii) the evolution of policy environment to facilitate ‘neera’ production and marketing (iii) the field level scenario of sustainability of interventions on ‘neera’ taken up by CPFs and (iv) the desired structure of support mechanism to enable FPOs to sustain the ‘neera’ enterprise. The present study was conducted to analyze (i) the status of FPOs in coconut sector (ii) the evolution of policy environment to facilitate ‘neera’ production and marketing (iii) the field level scenario of sustainability of interventions on ‘neera’ taken up by CPFs and (iv) the desired structure of support mechanism to enable FPOs to sustain the ‘neera’ enterprise Both primary and secondary data were used for analysing the specific objectives of the study.
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