Local coconut farmers and processors are looking for support from the government, including the setting-up of a development fund, to make the industry more viable.
Vilma Da Silva, a farmer and processor from the Pomeroon, told Stabroek News at a two-day conference on the development of the industry at the Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel that farmers have been planting way below their capacity because of their financial constraints.
As a result, she called on government to establish a coconut development fund in order for small farmers to access loans with low interest rates. The fund, she said, would enable farmers to access low-interest loans with a longer time to repay as coconut is a long-term crop.
The conference, supported by the European Union (EU), is part of the Coconut Industry Development for the Caribbean Project,
