Prospects of coconut cultivation in Tamil Nadu – A SWOT Analysis

Coconut is an important horticultural crop of the state of Tamil Nadu spreading across an area of 4.44 lakh hectares. Coconut is a victim of the catastrophes of climate change events like high temperature, excessive or deficit rainfall and increased atmospheric CO2 concentration. Coconut plantations in the state are hit by several pests and diseases, some of which are lethal, fatal and are debilitating in nature. An analysis of Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) for the prospects of coconut cultivation in the state revealed that edaphic and climatic factors, less labour requirement compared to other field crops of the state and access to technologies remain the great strength, while tropical cyclones hitting coastal districts of the state, failure of monsoon, wide fluctuations in copra price, lack of producer-centric market intelligence are the striking weakness for coconut cultivation. Improved varieties and hybrids with desired traits, establishment of processing industries, international cargo terminals to tap export market and crop insurance scheme in the event of climatic aberrations, remain the major opportunities while declining soil fertility, debilitating pests and dreadful diseases and poor scientific management owing to the fragmented land holdings are the major threats of coconut cultivation in the state of Tamil Nadu.