Coconut Development Board in Kochi: What It Does and How to Use It

The Coconut Development Board is a central government statutory body under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in existence since 12 January 1981, and its national headquarters is Kera Bhavan on SRV Road in Kochi (PIN 682011). From there it runs coconut schemes for farmers across the country, sets grades and standards for coconut products, collects coconut statistics and runs an export promotion section for exporters. For Ernakulam residents, the parts worth knowing are its Aluva testing lab, its climbers' insurance scheme and its links for exporters.

• Where is the Coconut Development Board located?
• What does the Board actually do?
• How to apply for a coconut board certificate?
• What is the Kera Suraksha insurance scheme?
• Why should a Kochi business care?

Where is the Coconut Development Board located?

The headquarters is at Kera Bhavan, SRV Road, near SRV High School, Kochi 682011. The Board also has regional offices in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Bihar, six state centres, a market information centre in Delhi and a field office in Thiruvananthapuram. Three of its units are within easy reach of Kochi:

Unit	Where	What it is for
Headquarters, Kera Bhavan	SRV Road, Kochi 682011	Administration, schemes, Export Promotion Council
CDB Institute of Technology, Technology Development Centre and Quality Testing Laboratory	Keenpuram, South Vazhakulam, Aluva 683105	Product testing, processing training, incubation for coconut businesses
Demonstration-cum-Seed Production Farm	Neriamangalam 686693	Quality planting material

What does the Board actually do?

Its statutory functions read like a full value chain for one crop. In plain terms, the Board:

• gives technical advice to coconut farmers and processors;
• funds schemes to expand coconut area and improve yield and quality;
• encourages modern processing technology and recommends marketing measures;
• recommends rules on coconut imports and exports;
• fixes grades, specifications and standards for coconut and its products;
• funds research, and collects and publishes coconut statistics.

Its stated thrust areas are quality planting material, bringing more land under coconut, improving the productivity of existing holdings, pest and disease management, and product diversification.

How to apply for a coconut board certificate?

When people search for a "coconut board certificate", they usually mean the RCMC, the registration-cum-membership certificate that exporters of coconut products obtain through the Board's Export Promotion Council section. The application itself is not filed on the Board's site: its "Apply RCMC Online" link goes to the DGFT e-RCMC portal, and the "User Help File" link opens DGFT's e-RCMC user guide for exporters. Registered exporters file quarterly export returns through a separate login linked from the same menu.

A warning about the site: the bare domain loads the Hindi homepage, and the menu is long and dense. The English site is at coconutboard.gov.in/index.aspx; go straight to the Export Promotion Council menu rather than browsing. Starting a small coconut product business? You will typically also want the basics, such as Udyam registration and an FSSAI licence.

What is the Kera Suraksha insurance scheme?

Kera Suraksha is the Board's group personal accident insurance for coconut climbers, harvesters, hybridisation trainees and Neera technicians, run with public sector insurance companies. Under the Board's operational guidelines, the annual premium is Rs 956, shared 75:25 between the Board and the climber, so the climber's renewal contribution is Rs 239 a year. The cover includes Rs 7 lakh for accidental death or permanent total disability and up to Rs 2 lakh in hospital expenses. Trainees on the Board's Friends of Coconut Tree climbing course get the first year's premium paid in full by the Board.

If you employ a climber for your compound, this is worth telling them about. In our view, Rs 239 a year is very little for cover on a dangerous job, so it is worth making sure they know about it.

Why should a Kochi business care?

In our view, the most useful piece for local businesses is the Quality Testing Laboratory at Aluva. It is NABL-accredited under ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for chemical and biological testing and analyses coconut oil, virgin coconut oil, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, Neera, coconut vinegar and drinking water, among other samples. The same campus runs hands-on processing training and an incubation facility where entrepreneurs can make products such as virgin coconut oil and desiccated coconut on a need basis.

For a home-scale virgin coconut oil maker in Ernakulam, an NABL-accredited lab and an incubation facility in Aluva are, in our view, a real advantage. The Board is one of several central export and commodity bodies headquartered in Kochi, alongside the Spices Board and MPEDA. For local firms in the trade, see our Kochi Business Directory.