Marico jumps into the coconut country to assist farmers in increasing productivity

Tamil Nadu farmers’ lives are being transformed by coconut, and FMCG giant Marico’s Parachute Kalpavriksha Foundation (PKF) is located at the heart of it all. The Thanjavur district was the starting point of the Parachute Kalpavriksha program in 2017, and it has now grown to 23 districts. It now encompasses 2.19 lakh acres and 44,000 farmers in the state.

Marico Limited’s chief legal officer and secretary of the CSR committee, Amit Bhasin, states that the company has a 20-year history of working with farmers in the area.

By disseminating scientific information on insect control, crop disease, nutrient and water management, PKF hopes to increase the yields of coconut crops. “We exceeded our goal of a 16% increase in productivity,” he claims.
For Tamil Nadu, coconut is a vital economic crop. Approximately 4.44 lakh hectares are now being farmed for coconuts, with an average yearly yield of 51,282 lakh nuts and a productivity of 11,526 nuts per hectare, according to state government statistics.

The government declared that the area under coconut farming would be enhanced by 10,000 acres along with intercropping by distributing seven lakh grade coconut seedlings in the agricultural budget that M R K Panneerselvam presented to the TN parliament last Tuesday. The government’s intentions seamlessly align with the PKF effort.

“In order to minimize travel time and expense, farmers receive training from specialists or field service personnel (FSPs) who are employed locally,” said Bhasin. “12–15 farms are covered daily by each FSP.” Building agricultural ponds is another main goal of the project, which is a component of the “Jalashay” water conservation campaign.

Pollachi farmers like Ravi from Devanampalayam have benefited from this approach. On his plantation, Ravi was dealing with a number of issues, including as a dropping water table and coconut shedding that reduced productivity. He was given assistance in building his own farm pond for rainwater gathering after registering for training.
The plan also aims to boost farming’s level of mechanization. Four agri-business centers, two in Pollachi and one in Thanjavur, have been established by the PKF to provide farmers with discounted services. According to Bhasin, “They can hire tools like rotavators and power tillers at these centers at subsidized cost.”

In cooperation with Amrita University, “we are also working on a pilot project to solve the problem of manual fruit plucking with an automated climber called Amaran,” he continues. This product’s joint development is currently being discussed.
He goes on to say that the initiative’s true labor is tracking its effects via a sustained relationship with the agricultural community. This is how PKF is aware that farmers are starting to see the potential of new agricultural techniques. Consider Raj Kumar, a Pollachi-based farmer.

He explains, “I tested the soil on my farm, sowed sun hemp, and applied fertilizer based on the results, all on the advice from the Kalpavriksha team.” His farm’s harvest of nuts increased from 10,000–12,000 thanks to this.
Due to the scheme’s success, Marico has decided to keep funding PKF. At the PKF level, CSR expenditures total around `25 crore, of which `7–`8 crore are invested annually. The majority of the money goes to the Pollachi region, but Bhasin notes that their main goals are to enlist more farmers in the program and broaden its scope to include other crops like rice and bananas.