TENGAPANI, Dec 14: Around 200 farmers along with officials from Lohit, Changlang and Namsai districts participated in a state-level workshop on ‘Aspects and prospects of coconut production and post-harvest technology/value addition in coconut in Arunachal Pradesh’, organised here in Namsai district on Friday by the state horticulture department with support from the Coconut Development Board (CDB) of the union agriculture & farmers’ welfare ministry.
Addressing the participants, retired commissioner Tape Bagra highlighted the importance of coconut and the potential for coconut production in the foothills and plains of Arunachal.
“The plains of Namsai, Lohit and Changlang are suitable for coconut cultivation; farmers could adopt its cultivation as a subsidiary crop, along with mixed cropping with vegetables and spices like ginger and black pepper for extra remuneration,” Bagra suggested.
He, however, he advised the farmers to obtain firsthand knowledge from the experts prior to accepting any crop, so that any situation akin to the citrus decline in Wakro does not arise with coconut.
The CDB’s Guwahati-based regional office Director Lunghar Obed sensitized the farmers to the schemes and subsidies provided by the board, while KVK farm manager Azizur Rahman spoke on the status and potential areas for cultivation of coconut in other parts of Arunachal.
