Tapping neera: From keeping monkeys away to making value-added products Premium

Tapping ‘neera’, a sweet nutrient-rich sap derived from coconut spathe, using the Coco-sap Chiller developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, Kerala, has raised the hopes of farmers in earning income from coconut trees, even while keeping monkeys at bay.

Monkeys raiding farms is a burning issue being faced by lakhs of coconut growers in Karnataka. Loss caused by the primates has forced many farmers, especially in the coastal and Malnad belts, either to face the brunt with no feasible solution or shift from farming altogether.

Tapping ‘neera’, a sweet nutrient-rich sap derived from coconut spathe, using the Coco-sap Chiller developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod, Kerala, has raised the hopes of farmers in earning income from coconut trees, even while keeping monkeys at bay.

“That is our experience so far,” K. Sathyanarayana Udupa, President-cum-Managing Director, Udupi Kalparasa Coconut and All Spices Producer Company Ltd., told The Hindu. This FPC (Farmer Producer Company) has been into ‘neera’ tapping in the Udupi district by purchasing the Coco-sap Chiller technology from CPCRI since the past over two-and-half years.

The Coco-sap Chiller is a portable device which is installed atop the tree and connected to the spathe to tap ‘neera’. It has a container comprising a plastic pouch surrounded by ice cubes for chilling the sap when it starts trickling in. The device prevents contamination due to the falling of insects, pollen and dust particles.

Udupa said that three Coco-sap Chillers can be installed per a coconut tree. “Monkeys probably think that they (chillers) are traps for them. Hence they do not touch them,” he said, talking about the added benefit of the contraption that was not anticipated.

Calling ‘neera’ as ‘kalpa rasa’ Udupa added, “No monkey has damaged the chillers in the villages where the FPC is tapping the sweet sap.” Otherwise, monkeys pluck tender coconut without allowing it to grow. Monkeys alone destroyed about 40% to 50% of coconut crop in Udupi district, he said.

In such places where monkey menace is severe, farmers can neither harvest tender coconut or matured coconut leaving them without any income. “Going for ‘neera’ tapping in such places is ideal for farmers to earn income,” Udupa, who is also an advocate, said.