Gulf Indians urged to promote coconut oil

Joseph Alapatt: appeal

By Ramesh MathewThe steady rise in the prices of most varieties of edible oils globally is because of a major fall in production in recent years, according to a former senior ex-officio member of India’s Coconut Development Board (CDB).Joseph Alapatt, an expert on coconut studies, said the hike in the prices of   most edible oils at both the retail and wholesale levels was owing to a major shortfall in their production and not because of any other reason. “In South Asia, notably in India, some political parties, purportedly championing the cause of farmers, are claiming credit for the price hike without understanding the real side of the story,” said Alapatt. One of the main reasons for the global level shortage is the massive felling of the coconut trees because of industrialisation as is seen in Malaysia. “The occurrence of root wilt diseases from different parts of the world has also contributed to the falling numbers,” he added. Alapatt had been the chairman of Indian Coconut Development Board (CDB), a government of India institution. Coming down heavily on those campaigning against the consumption of coconut oil, the senior CDB research and development member said that elaborate studies undertaken by globally acclaimed medical and agricultural forums and institutions had found there was absolutely nothing in coconut that affected the health of its regular users. International bodies like United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA), he said, had  carried out researches before concluding that coconut oil was user-friendly and had no health hazards whatsoever. “The lobbies campaigning against the use of coconut oil should have some hidden agenda.” Alapatt said the Gulf region’s more than 3mn  plus Keralites could play a vital role in promoting the use of coconut oil among  the Indian community. “If coconut oil and its value-added products have received good patronage in the European markets, it is because of the interest shown by the people there,” he added. However, he said it was doubtful if the Indian coconut products had found good markets in Europe.“Unlike  Sri Lanka, India has not taken out any systematic campaign abroad among its diaspora to promote the coconut. It is doubtful if India could match the level of diversification carried out by Sri Lanka to capture the world market for its coconut and value added products,’ he said.Even though India had successfully marketed its virgin coconut oils in European markets, no efforts had been made in the Gulf region where many Indians, notably Keralites, were living, he said.   Alapatt said the “Solvol “ process as was done to obtain virgin coconut oil could also be experimented in large scale to supply similar virgin oil in the GCC markets. He urged the Indian entrepreneurs in the GCC region to explore the possibility of  increasing coconut production in India from the present levels. “If more oil is obtained in coming years with increase in the production of coconuts, they could be effectively be utilised to generate bio-diesel fuels as coco oils in the Philippines,” he said.