And earn upto Rs.30,000/- per month!
Thanks to the Coconut Development Board's focused initiatives - since mid 2011 - under the 'Friends of coconut tree' project, about 7,500 people have received training in mechanised climbing on the trees. Hopefully, they'd reduce the woes of the coconut farm owners - like my mom who's one, though, I must hasten to add that her possession is quite meagre - who'd generally been at their wits' end to get the 'pluckers' at the right moment, usually thrice a year.
I remember during earlier days, Gopalettan, plucked the coconuts in our farm. The plucking was timed in such a way that all connected activities were completed before the rains set in. And those activities were:-
(a) The coconuts were plucked and mustered from all over the farm and numbers earmarked for
consumption, for extracting oil again for consumption and the rest for being sold in the market.
(b) The coconuts selected for the first two activities were dehusked( though the ones for consumption
was done on an, as required basis) and the ones for oil extraction were further broken into halves
and dried on mats used for the purpose - all of us have taken turns to keep a constant vigil against
the daredevil crows and fowls(usually one's own) taking off with the spoils, during school vacations!
(c) The dried 'copra' (the whites of the coconuts) was carved out of the shells, cut into small pieces
and again dried on the same mats till they acquired a dark, golden hue. And mind you, at this stage
the loss of the neatly cut coconut whites was not due to the crows and the fowls but because of the
indulgence of the young keepers who gorged on the delicacy, that lay at their mercy!
(d) Taking the dried copra for oil extraction, to the nearby mill, was Gopalettan's responsibility which he
did with elan.
(e) The trees had to be nurtured by having embankments dug around each to be filled with charcoal,
salt and water for nourishment!
And for the range of activities mentioned above, Gopalettan was paid, both in kind and in cash. The kind included coconuts in proportion to the total plucked with a couple of tots of toddy/arrack(his weakness, as he'd once told me through his toothy grin) backed up with cash!
Gopalettan and his breed are a thing of the past. In fact, he passed away a couple of years earlier but used to be a regular visitor at my home for long chats with my parents when he'd have at least one meal. His food intake had become very, very meagre towards the end but there was a corresponding increase in his intake of alcohol. His children - two sons and a daughter - are well settled and his wife is looked after by their eldest son. God bless his soul!
Tailpiece.
1. The newly trained manpower might not match up to the 'fruits-from-the-trees-to-oil-from-the-mill' loyalty of earlier workers like Gopalettan. But it's definitely a step in the right direction for the hapless coconut farm owners!
2. Having said about the coconut pluckers, I find that there's no initiative as yet on the plucking of arecanuts/betelnuts, the plucking of which is a spectacular art by itself. I've seen Gopalettan, having cleared one tree, gently swaying with his weight the tall, slender palm onto another nearby palm, holding onto it with a deft movement of his hand as it came near and shifting himself onto it - like a nimble footed ballet dancer - while leaving the former palm to sway back to its original position! Scary for the onlookers, like me, but for him it was just another uncomplicated task that was a daily affair!!
Thanks to the Coconut Development Board's focused initiatives - since mid 2011 - under the 'Friends of coconut tree' project, about 7,500 people have received training in mechanised climbing on the trees. Hopefully, they'd reduce the woes of the coconut farm owners - like my mom who's one, though, I must hasten to add that her possession is quite meagre - who'd generally been at their wits' end to get the 'pluckers' at the right moment, usually thrice a year.
I remember during earlier days, Gopalettan, plucked the coconuts in our farm. The plucking was timed in such a way that all connected activities were completed before the rains set in. And those activities were:-
(a) The coconuts were plucked and mustered from all over the farm and numbers earmarked for
consumption, for extracting oil again for consumption and the rest for being sold in the market.
(b) The coconuts selected for the first two activities were dehusked( though the ones for consumption
was done on an, as required basis) and the ones for oil extraction were further broken into halves
and dried on mats used for the purpose - all of us have taken turns to keep a constant vigil against
the daredevil crows and fowls(usually one's own) taking off with the spoils, during school vacations!
(c) The dried 'copra' (the whites of the coconuts) was carved out of the shells, cut into small pieces
and again dried on the same mats till they acquired a dark, golden hue. And mind you, at this stage
the loss of the neatly cut coconut whites was not due to the crows and the fowls but because of the
indulgence of the young keepers who gorged on the delicacy, that lay at their mercy!
(d) Taking the dried copra for oil extraction, to the nearby mill, was Gopalettan's responsibility which he
did with elan.
(e) The trees had to be nurtured by having embankments dug around each to be filled with charcoal,
salt and water for nourishment!
And for the range of activities mentioned above, Gopalettan was paid, both in kind and in cash. The kind included coconuts in proportion to the total plucked with a couple of tots of toddy/arrack(his weakness, as he'd once told me through his toothy grin) backed up with cash!
Gopalettan and his breed are a thing of the past. In fact, he passed away a couple of years earlier but used to be a regular visitor at my home for long chats with my parents when he'd have at least one meal. His food intake had become very, very meagre towards the end but there was a corresponding increase in his intake of alcohol. His children - two sons and a daughter - are well settled and his wife is looked after by their eldest son. God bless his soul!
Tailpiece.
1. The newly trained manpower might not match up to the 'fruits-from-the-trees-to-oil-from-the-mill' loyalty of earlier workers like Gopalettan. But it's definitely a step in the right direction for the hapless coconut farm owners!
2. Having said about the coconut pluckers, I find that there's no initiative as yet on the plucking of arecanuts/betelnuts, the plucking of which is a spectacular art by itself. I've seen Gopalettan, having cleared one tree, gently swaying with his weight the tall, slender palm onto another nearby palm, holding onto it with a deft movement of his hand as it came near and shifting himself onto it - like a nimble footed ballet dancer - while leaving the former palm to sway back to its original position! Scary for the onlookers, like me, but for him it was just another uncomplicated task that was a daily affair!!
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