Intercropping of fruits andvegetable crops in coconut garden in Gujarat

摘要

Coconut is one of the important plantation crops of Gujarat state particularly in coastal areas. State enjoys 1600 kms of coastal belt (the highest for any state in the country) most suitable for coconut plantation. About 60 per cent of the area and production of coconut comes from the undivided coastal districts of Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Valsad, Gir Somnath and Devbhumi Dwarka. The traditional area is predominantly of tall varieties of coconut which thrive for more than 80 years. Coconut is consideredas the cash crop of more than 5 lakh people residing in the coastal belt. In the state, coconut farmers are facing problems like fragmented holding, scattered production, homestead nature of cultivation, lack of skilled manpower, incidence of pest and diseases, lack of adoption of scientific cultivation practices, lack of appropriate mechanization for harvesting and small scale processing and lack of awareness about improved technologies.