Tumkur (Karnataka): Situated 70 km away from Bengaluru, Tumkur is known for its industries hosting India's first mega food park but the district's tryst with coconuts makes it 'Kalpataru Nadu' (the land of coconuts). Kalpataru is the divine wish-fulfilling tree of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain mythologies and coconut is hailed as one among such divine trees.
As September 2 marks World Coconut day, Tumkur with its 1.76 lakh more hectares of coconut crop takes pride as Karnataka's top coconut producing district.
Karnataka ranks third among coconut growing states in the entire country and coconut is one of the major horticultural crops of the state. Coconut is grown in 31% of the total horticultural crops. About 34 per cent of the total coconut plantations in the state are grown in the Tumkur district.
Coconut is grown in 35,183 hectares in the district's Gubbi Taluk. It is grown in 34,603 hectares in Turuvekere taluk, 32370 hectares in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk and 31,566 hectares in Tiptur taluk.
With diverse rainfall pattern, starting from abundance to scattered, farmers in the district use drip irrigation in case of water shortage. The horticulture department provides subsidies for the farmers to take up drip irrigation.
The department also conducts many programmes for the coconut farmers to take up value addition of the coconut crop like toddy, tender coconut, oil, chips and fibre.
Deputy Director of Horticulture Raghu said that they promote drip irrigation among the coconut farmers. Drip irrigation is most appropriate in case of water shortage, he said.
A coconut farmer, Prabakar said that a coconut tree is truly a kalpataru. "You raise a couple of trees for a period of four to five years, they take care of your life for the rest", he said.
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