India exported coconut products worth Rs 2,084 cr in FY17

A farm worker shells a coconut in Samut Songram, Thailand, 75 kilometers (47 miles) south of the capital Bangkok on March 5 2001. Thai coconut farmer Kitti Maneesrikul has developed a clean and cheap fuel from used coconut oil which can be used by cars, trucks and industrial engines. Environmentalists say such renewable fuels should replace fossil fuels, which are contributing to global warming. DWW/CC - RP2DRIIQHYAA

India exported coconut products worth Rs 2,084 crore in FY 2016-17, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.

"In the year 2016, we started exporting coconut oil to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, the countries from where we were importing earlier. For the first time, desiccated coconut is being exported to the US and Europe in large quantities from India," Singh added.

For the first time, India is exporting desiccated coconut to the US and Europe in large quantities, Singh said while inaugurating farmers' training centre cum regional office building of Coconut Development Board (CDB) in Patna.

The annual coconut production is 2,395 crore from 20.82 lakh hectare and the productivity is 11,505 coconuts /hectare.

Singh also said CDB is promoting coconut production in Bihar.

CDB, through its scheme, is also focusing on productivity, processing for coconut products, value addition, marketing, and export promotion in the state, he added.