Hi, This is Vignesh I am new here. I live in New York and work as a technologist and planning to come back to my home town Coimbatore soon and revive the coconut farm of my family that was left unattended for almost a decade now.
This is quite an emotional undertaking for me as it’s about going back to my roots and making sure we don’t abandon coconut farming which was the bread and butter for my family for decades
I’m new to this forum but if someone could assist me or point me to the right resource that would be great.
what is the best way for a newbie to get started is there any consultants I should hire or speak to seasoned farmers?
I want to do it in the right way do a soil test and handle this whole endeavor quite scientifically. Is this right and who would be the best point of contact in Coimbatore (Agri univ?, CBD?)
we have almost 2 hectares what would be the high level investment and returns?
any other info I must be aware of before I get started - pls point it out to me
Since you are in Coimbatore, you should approach the Agriculture University in Coimbatore for your coconut revival.
Please note that Scientific approach is good but not the one suggested by “so called” Scientists in universities. You should also look at alternative suggestions from people like Late Nammalvarm, Subhash Palekar, etc.
There is so much going on in agriculture field so try to understand the current happenings by reading books like Pasumai Vikatan etc and then decide what you want to do.
Hi,
In addition to having an expert visit your land, here is my view with limited knowledge about the state/layout of your Coconut trees. I would focus on enhancing soil health and fertility. Add organic matter, grow green manure, grow nitrogen fixers/edible dicot crop. Dig 1ft depth, 6inch width semi-circular trenches about 10-15ft from the tree (based on canopy/wherever the feeder roots are) and add FYM, provide Jivamrutha twice a month. THis should get the coconut trees started in right path.
In the meantime, you can plan your choice of crops in between coconut trees this season or next.