[India] Women coconut pollinators scale new heights

M. J. Prabu – Hindu – Monday, 11 February 2013 (originally published 07 Feb)

Woman sitting at the top of a coconut tree with bag of receptive flower

A woman climber bagging the receptive flower. Image: Special Arrangement/The Hindu

The coconut pollination (technically referred to as hybridisation) sector, once a men’s monopoly in Kerala, is today being conquered successfully by women also. Seed-nuts of hybrid coconut palms are produced through artificial pollination.

In Kasaragod district, the friends of coconut trees programme (FoCT) for taining women in coconut polllination organized by the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), evoked good response from enterprising women.

Thirty-four ladies, mostly house-wives, underwent training in pollination techniques, an area all along dominated by men. In addition, 207 unemployed rural youth were also trained in the techniques . . .

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