Govt. to distribute millions of coconut seedlings from next year

The government has decided to provide 2.3 million coconut seedlings to the public at the Divisional Secretariat level next year, Plantation Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said.

He said the public sector alone is not enough to meet the coconut demand in the country.

Therefore, coconut seedlings should be provided to private entrepreneurs as well.

However, there is already a huge demand from local people for coconut cultivation.

"The Coconut Cultivation Board has a large number of employees. However, the country is unable to produce enough coconuts to meet its demands.If the coconut seedlings are not sent to the nurseries as scheduled, the employees are useless. Therefore, the Coconut Cultivation Board should be ready to supply the required coconut seedlings to the entire country by next January, " the Minister said.

He said the responsibility of the Coconut Cultivation Board is to produce a sufficient quantity of coconut seedlings as required by the country. They cannot escape that responsibility. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)