Shri Surendra Nath Naik, Honourable Minister for Agriculture inaugurated the awareness Seminar on Technology Mission on Coconut at IMMT, Bhubaneswar at 9 am on 24.06.08.

The programme was organized jointly by CDB and IMMT, Bhubaneswar. Technology Mission is a programme of CDB which addresses various issues on production, processing and marketing of coconut by giving focused attention for the development and adoption of new technologies and their production especially in product diversification and management of insect pest and diseases.

The seminar brought to highlight the need for value addition in coconut with special reference to Orissa where all raw materials are available in abundance and cheap. Mr. Thomas Mathew, Chief Coconut Development Officer, CDB welcomed the gathering. The Hon. Minister, expressed concern on the extensive spread of eriophyid mite and black headed caterpillar and exhorted to the state Dept. of Agriculture and OUAT, etc, to work together for finding solution to all maladies by utilizing the facilities and opportunities available with CDB. He also applauded the efforts made by IMMT in formulating a technology using Hyptis plant for management of mite and requested the institute to spare the technology for large scale adoption.

Mrs. Minnie Mathew, IAS, Chairman, CDB wished more coconut based industries to come in the state as the state occupies the 6th position in coconut production in the country and possessed tremendous potential for value addition, Shri U.P. Singh, IAS, Commissioner-cum- Secretary, Orissa, Prof. B. K. Mishra, Director, IMMT; Shri Sukumaran Pillai, Chairman, KERAFED, Kerala and the members of CDB; Shri K.M. Salih, Shri Varkala B. Ravikumar, Shri Sundarram Raju, Shri V.V. Limaye spoke on the occasion. A guide book on Coconut “Coconut Palm at A Glance” prepared by the project members were released by chairman, CDB. Dr. P.S. Mukherjee, Head, AMT Dept., IMMT proposed the vote of thanks. The minister and the chairman congratulated the IMMT which developed a biocide for the control of the eriophyid mite.

The inaugural session was followed by a technical session in which presentations were made by experts on various topics. Dr. K. Muralidharan, Director, CDB made a presentation on CDB programmes and TMoC with special emphasis on product diversification and value addition in coconut, Dr. B.K. Mishra, Associate Professor (Entomology), OUAT on eriophyd mite management; Mr. Sreekumar Poduval, Processing Engineer, CDB on project profiles for establishing integrated coconut processing units. Shri Johar Khan from Andhra Pradesh has also shared his experiences in the coconut processing sector and requested for group activity for sustainability.