Industry Minister Elamaram Kareem laid the foundation stone for the coconut wood processing plant, the ambitious diversification project of the Kerala Kerakarshaka Sahakarana Federation (Kerafed) at Mamom near Attingal, on May 31 2010.
The project has been initiated as part of Kerafed venture to market value-added products made from coconut and its wood and thereby offer financial benefits to coconut farmers. It has been envisaged to overcome the ongoing crisis in the coconut industry due to the rise in production costs and failure to generate profit and the fact that it would be difficult to sustain with the single product alone in the future.
Through the project, Kerafed aims to manufacture value-added products by processing the wood of coconut palms being uprooted as part of the Centrally-sponsored Coconut Garden Replanting and Rejuvenation Scheme.
The plant will be completed in two phases with technical aid from Forest Industries Limited. Door and window frames, furniture, panel boards and flooring materials will be made from the processed wood.
Source: APCC Cocommunity Newsletter
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