Vijayawada, Dec. 27 -- : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has written a letter to union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan requesting Rs 200 crore in central assistance for the State's Integrated Coconut Development & Market Strengthening Programme.
In the letter, the Chief Minister noted that Andhra Pradesh is one of the leading coconut-producing states in India, standing fourth in cultivation with 1.08 lakh hectares, 1735 million nuts in production, and the highest productivity in the country at 16,000 nuts per hectare.
Despite this natural advantage, farmers continue to receive low and unstable prices due to the lack of organised tender coconut markets, inadequate processing infrastructure...