Friends of Coconut Trees (FOCT)

The programme was launched with the collaboration of Coconut Development Board which was aimed at capacity building of coconut farmers who usually faced difficulty in harvesting and carrying out plant protection measures. The Board supported 6 days residential training of unemployed youth of 18-40 years including 30% women. On successful completion of training, participants were given palm climbing device free of cost. Beneficiaries were selected by the KVKs in consultation with the district line departments. During the year 2014-15, eight KVKs (Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly, Cooch Behar, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, South Dinajpur, South 24 Parganas (RKMVU) of Zone II had successfully conducted FOCT training and a total of 810 farmers/farm women were benefitted.