Kerala youth modernises coconut plucking into a hi tech profession

Thiruvananthapuram: The shortage of trained coconut pluckers is a grim farm sector problem in Kerala but for 37-year-old Selvin Chacko coconut plucking is a hi-tech profession involving car, mobile and even a dedicated website.

While many youngsters look down upon coconut plucking as a career, Selvin from Changanassery has opted for it with “career pride and pleasure” and keeping in tune with the changing times he is using modern facilities like a mobile phone and website to get connected to customers.

[caption id=“attachment_264760” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Selvin has a website, mobile number and car: Reuters”] [/caption]Traveling by car helps him save time as he can rush from one coconut garden to the next. Selvin says he climbs 40 to 45 trees a day earning not less than Rs 30,000 a month. His phone number and profile are available on a website launched in the name of ‘Changathikoottam’, a gathering of trained coconut pluckers.

A failed business man, Selvin said coconut plucking has helped him rebuild his life.

“I have tried my luck in a number of enterprises but could not succeed. Finally, I started looking for a job which could give me a steady income. After some search, I found coconut plucking a gainful career as there is a huge demand for coconut harvesters in Kerala,” Selvin said.

After his schooling, Selvin became a bus conductor and even bought two buses eventually. But the bus business failed and he was pushed into debt-trap.

A father of three children, he later joined a week-long coconut climbing training programme conducted by the ‘Krishi Vingnan Kendra’ in Kumarakom near Kottayam.

He gets an average of 100 calls a day from various parts of the district. Apart from wages, he also charges petrol prices for assignments outside the district.

“Though I mastered the nuances of tree climbing and nut plucking, I had to face stiff opposition from my family and traditional coconut pluckers in the inital days,” he said.

“My family and community members complained that I humiliated them by entering in the profession while conventional nut pluckers blamed me for charging lower wages.”

Of late, he had also become trainer, and helped a dozen youth learn the job.

PTI