COCONUT SHELL AND ITS DEMAND MORE THAN SUPPLY, WORLD OVER

3. Coconut Shell: Unlikely Player in a Global Economy
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KERALA, INDIA, April 9, 2007: Coconut shell has already won both the domestic and international market. With eco-friendly and biodegradable concepts gaining popularity in developed nations, the biodegradable and organic coconut shell has regained its glory as a natural container. In Spain, Italy, France and European countries coconut shells in the form of ice cream cups, forks, spoons and even hookahs are in high demand. Today, export enquiries received from countries like USA, Netherlands and Austria and Western countries are more than the total production of coconut shell in the country. Shell buttons for garments are also being exported from India.

There are hundreds of cottage industries in Kerala which manufacture wide varieties of exquisite shell crafts, such as flower vases, paper weights, rings, decorative masks, figures of Gods etc. Majority of artisans who use coconut shell as a medium are from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The Coconut Development Board in Cochin under the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, is always in search of talented artisans for converting the coconut shell and wood-based products into high value utility material. It has played a key role in developing and establishing rural artisans units in various parts of the country. This in turn has given a face lift to the rural economy through employment generation and value additions of the byproducts. Coconut shell, like the coconut tree itself, has immense possibilities. Coconut shell is today being used commercially for manufacture of coconut shell powder, coconut shell charcoal and activated carbon. These value additions go a long way in increasing farm level income which is prerequisite for making the coconut industry globally competitive.



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In one stroke, one can destroy a rock but not a pillow, even so a humble man can never be destroyed, though the man with ego can be! Swami Sadananda Saraswati