We are well into 2021. There are a few things in life that never change from a cultural perspective. India, as you may know, is a land of rich cultural traditions and practices. This is evident from the fact that most of our rich cuisines and food are made of indigenous spices, local curry masalas, seasonings and flavours. And South Indian dishes primarily are prepared of coconut oil, without which the authentic taste is lost.  Coconut usually offers five types of food products viz. coconut water, coconut milk, oil, sugar and ‘flesh’ or ‘meat’, as we come to know from everyday use. In the south of India, especially Tamilnadu, coconut flesh is consumed in different ways: it is ground and made into a fine chutney with tempered whole spices for…

The world economy, devastated by the ongoing outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, is gradually recuperating to normalcy, though the uncertainty of the pandemic and its spiralling effects on the economy continue to threaten business at large. In spite of this gloomy phase, India has made unparalleled progress in coconut cultivation in the last two years, and now it has turned out to become one of the leading countries in coconut production and productivity. To elaborate the point, in 2017-2018, the productivity increased to 11,516 fruits per hectare compared to 10,122 between 2013 and 2014. Add to this, 13,117 hectares of land were brought under new plantation between 2014 and 2018 against 9,561 hectares between 2010 and 2014.  India, once an importer of Coconut oil, has been exporting coconut oil to…

Coconut, in several ways, is considered to be one of nature’s greatest bounties. Ever since the dawn of civilization, coconut, as a miracle fruit, has satisfied man’s hunger and purged his thirst, in addition to helping him build his first shelter protecting him against the vagaries of heat, cold, rain, snow and wild animals. In fact, the coconut and its related products helped spread civilization far and wide, as man migrated from one region to another to seek greener pastures and opportunities hitherto unexplored. Is Coconut a zero-waste product? We know well that there are precious few products that truly exhibit zero waste values.  The Coconut tree is one of the true examples of an organic product which gives out very little waste, if at all any. This is because…