India is the third largest producer of coconut in the world after Indonesia and Philippines. Coconut occupied 18.40 lakh ha of area during 2000-01 as against 6.22 lakh ha in 1950-51 (Table I 1 .IX) (3.92% per annum increase). Similarly the production has also shot up from 358 crore nuts in 1950-51 to 1260 crore nuts in 2000-01 (annual increase being 5.04 per cent).
]The three southern states of Kerala. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka account for 86 per cent of the total area and 83 per cent of the total production of coconut in the country (Table I I.X).
Kerala
Kerala is the largest producer accounting for 50.87 per cent of the total area and 43.63 per cent of the total production of coconut in the country (Table 11 .X). Bulk of the production comes from Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Palakkad, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Malappuram districts. There has been 3.7 per cent per annum increase in the area of the coconut between 1985-86 and 1997-98 while the production has registered an annual increase of 6.25 per cent.
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Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu occupies third place in area (17.61%) and second place in production (25.07%) of coconut in the country. The state is characterised by high per hectare yield (9763 nuts/ha). More than half of the state’s production comes from Thanjavur, Coimbatore and Salem districts. Other important producers include Madurai, Kanniyakumari, Tiruchchirappalli and Ramanathapuram districts. In Tamil Nadu the area under coconut has registered an increase from 1.5 lakh ha in 1985-86 to 3.20 lakh ha in 1997-98 (increase being 9.44% per annum), while the production has improved from 149 crore nuts to 372 crore nuts (increase being 12.4 per cent annually) during the same period.
Karnataka
Karnataka contributes 18.15 per cent of the total area and 13.92 per cent of the total production of coconut in the country. About 80 per cent of the state’s production comes from Tumkur, Hassan, Cbikmagalur, Chitradurga, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada districts. The state has witnessed an increase of 3 per cent in the area and production of coconut during 1985-86 and 1997-98. A unique feature of coconut plantation in the state is related to its concentration in the interior parts of the state.
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Andhra Pradesh
With 6 per cent of the total area and 8.68 per cent of the total production Andhra Pradesh occupies fourth place amongst the coconut producing states of the country. Here main producers are Srikakulam, East Godavari, and West Godavari, Chittoor, Vishakhapatnam and Krishna districts. The state has observed 8.51 per cent annual increase in area and 24.8 per cent increase in the production of coconut between 1985-86 and 1997-98.
Others
Among other coconut producing states of the country mention may be made of West Bengal, Orissa (Puri, Cuttack, Balasore and Ganjam districts), Maharashtra (Ratnagiri, Kolaba and Thane districts), Assam (Kamrup, Darrang and Nagaon districts), Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tripura and Pondicherry.
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Trade
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are the largest supplier of coconut, copra and coconut oil in the country. India also exports some copra and coconut oil to France, Germany, U.K. and U.S.A. In 1989-90 the total export earning was Rs. 41 crores. Mumbai, Kolkata and Kochi are the main centers of trade.