Panaji: Goa has imported more than 2.9 crore coconuts – both mature and tender – in the last three years to meet demand, state Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik informed the state Legislative Assembly on Friday.
In a written reply, Naik said 65.3 lakh coconuts and 32.21 lakh tender coconuts were brought into the state between November 2022 and March 2023. In 2023–24, the numbers rose sharply to 1.85 crore coconuts and 50.98 lakh tender coconuts, the minister said.
He was responding to a question tabled by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai.
Naik further said that between April 2024 and March 2025, Goa imported 91.85 lakh coconuts and 15.56 lakh tender coconuts, with the minister clarifying that the latest year’s figures reflected imported coconuts only, excluding locally procured quantities.
Naik said the demand for coconuts in Goa is driven by the high tourist inflow and the growth of hotels and restaurants, with local production unable to meet requirements.
He said the dependence on imports was driven by the high influx of tourists and the growth of hotels and restaurants in the state. The minister provided annual figures of coconut imports over the last five years, noting that local production alone could not meet demand.
As per government estimates, in 2024–25 the total area under coconut cultivation in Goa stood at 26,807 hectares, with an average yield of 5,625 nuts per hectare, producing about 150.79 million nuts.
Naik said the government was taking multiple measures to support coconut farmers, including subsidies for replanting and removal of senile or diseased palms, disease control measures such as subsidised traps for red palm weevil and rhinoceros beetle, and mechanisation subsidies for coconut harvesting equipment. Coconut pluckers are also made available through the Goa State Horticulture Corporation Ltd, and training programmes are conducted in collaboration with ICAR–Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute.
