Vijayawada: The World Coconut Day-2015, themed 'Coconut for Family Nutrition, Health and Wellness', will be celebrated in the city on September 2.

The Coconut Development Board has said in an official release that around 500 farmers from coconut-growing states of the country are expected to attend the function in Vijayawada.

Of the total farmers, around 75 per cent coconut-growers are from Andhra Pradesh. An exhibition will be held at the venue showcasing the latest technologies in the field coconut sector and various value added coconut products, including Neera.

The Board informed as per the latest statistics of Horticulture division, Ministry of Agriculture, AP occupies the first place in coconut productivity at 14,997 nuts per hectare.

The state is at the fourth place in terms of area with 1,21,920 hectares, while in terms of production with 1828.46 million nuts, it is at fourth place in the country, the release said.

Since 1990, the board has been implementing various development schemes in Andhra Pradesh for expansion of area under coconut, improving the production and productivity.

There are 610 coconut producers’ societies, 49 coconut producer federations and three coconut producer companies present in AP, it said.

During 2015-16, the board has allocated Rs 1284.32 lakh for implementation of various development schemes in AP for coconut.

Source:PTI