New Delhi, Dec. 28 -- Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has written to the central government seeking financial assistance of Rs.200 crore to roll out an Integrated Coconut Development and Market Strengthening Programme in the southern state.

According to people familiar with the matter, the programme will be aimed at stabilising prices and boosting farmers' incomes in one of India's most productive coconut belts.

In a letter to Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on December 16, Naidu stated that Andhra Pradesh ranks fourth nationally in coconut cultivation, with 108,000 hectares under the crop and an output of 1,735 million nuts. The state also leads in productivity at around 16,000 nuts per hectare, he no...