Coconut climbers are a very vital link in the production chain. The consistent supply of raw nuts for the market as well as for the processing sector can be ensured only by strict adherence to the regular harvesting schedule, Coconut Development Board (CDB) Chairman Minnie Mathew said.
Some desperate farmers from Goa recently called up the board seeking its intervention in finding out climbers.
A private company having coconut farms recently advertised for climbers, but failed to get the desired response from potential climbers. Though there were no interested parties from Kerala, they reportedly got two enquries from the Gulf for the job.
In many areas, farmers are forced to seek help from migrant labourers, who charge exorbitant amounts, despite not being familiar with the art of coconut climbing.
'The scarcity of labour disrupts harvesting cycles thus causing loss of income to the growers. As against the general norm of harvesting cycles of 45-60 days, farmers are currently able to harvest only once in three to four months,' she said.
The vulnerability of the coconut palm to severe pest and disease is also on account of the lack of proper sanitation and cleaning of the crown and the difficulties in adopting plant protection measures around the crown for which trained climbers are needed.
"Though the board is training unemployed youth in palm climbing, there is a reluctance to enter this field because of the occupational risk and the arduous labour involved in climbing tall coconut trees," the Chairman said.
To woo potential climbers, the CDB along with the United India Insurance Company Ltd. launched a pilot scheme 'Kerala Suraksha Insurance scheme' last month for providing accident insurance cover for coconut tree climbers in few selected districts in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puducherry.
Increasing popularity of tender coconut has also considerably increased the demand for climbers. Board sources said initially the insurance coverage will be for a year and would be given not only for accidents which occur during climbing, but also for other accidents which occur during the cover period.
The scheme covers death, permanent total disablement, permanent partial disablement, hospitalisation expenses, bystanders expenses, ambulance charges and funeral expenses, if any, in case of death due to accidents, sources said.
In case of accidents resulting in temporary disablity, a weekly compensation of Rs 500 will be given to the climber for a maximum period of six weeks. The bystander is also eligible for an amount of Rs 50 per day for 15 days. The insured climber would get a maximum benefit of Rs 1,16,750 under the scheme.
As per the board's figures (2006-07), Kerala has about 870.9 thousand hectares of land under coconut cultivation and accounts for about 6,054 million nuts on a yearly basis, Karnataka has 401 thousand hectares and produces 1,625 million nuts annually, while Tamil Nadu has 374 thousand hectares and accounts for 5,429 million nuts. Goa has 25.5 hectares and accounts for 126 million nuts.