Mayabhushan Nagvenkar/IANS

Panaji, Apr 2: The humble coconut is to Goans what perhaps the camel is to desert dwellers. So nearly 100,000 coconut palms in the coastal state of Goa are now set to be insured in an unprecedented exercise, complete with a physical examination of their girth!

Satish Tendulkar, director of agriculture, says since coconut is an important commercial crop, the state government along with several other government agencies had decided to ensure comprehensive insurance cover for farmers who depend on them.

"The coconut farmer will have to pay only Rs.1.60 paise per tree annually. In case a coconut palm dies, he stands to get Rs.1,200 per palm," Tendulkar said.

He said 75 percent of the premium was sponsored by several agencies like the Coconut Development Board, the state agriculture department, a local horticulture collective and Zuari Agro Ltd, a pesticide manufacturing company, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Goa is the first state in the country to undertake such a comprehensive insurance drive for coconut palms, he said.

The Agro Insurance Company of India, a central government concern, has undertaken to insure the coconut palms, the official said, adding nearly 18,000 palms had already been insured.

Explaining the procedure, Tendulkar said agriculture officials were scouring the countryside and physically examining the coconut palms as required by insurance specifications.

The thing that these officials are looking out for is the palm's girth - the broader the girth the healthier the tree - along with thick foliage, etc.

"The insurance covers the trees for cyclonic uprooting, death by disease and drought," Tendulkar said.

The insurance policy, however, does not cover the death of a tree due to silt accumulation, a common phenomenon in the state's expanding mining belt, where fine silt created by constant mining of iron and manganese ore settles on the soil, slowly choking vegetation to death.

Coconut farming, along with that of cashew and betel nut, is one of the most popular commercial farming activities in Goa.

The coconut, with its fleshy white kernel, a hard shell covered with a gritty, husky exterior, is used for multiple purposes by Goans.

While the grated kernel is used in most signature Goan dishes like fish curry, caldin and xacuti, the husk is used to manufacture coir ropes, the fringed palm leaves are thatched together and then used as canopy against the sun and the palm's long, firm stem is commonly used as roof timber.