Kerala may use monkeys to pluck coconuts
Monkeys may soon “officially” pluck coconuts in the state as they do in Sri Lanka or south-east Asia. A proposal for “requisitioning” the “services” of monkeys will soon be presented to the government by two agriculture officers.
This will be a part of the steps being initiated or contemplated by the Coconut Development Board (CDB) that has already introduced mechanised climbing of the trees, and has even formed collective workforces called “Chengathikootam”.
As the state is facing a serious shortage of men who adopted plucking of coconuts as their vocation, and of men who can climb the tall trees, many appear disinterested in the cultivation of coconut. Hence, the initiatives.
Agriculture deputy director K.R. Vijayakumar and principal agriculture officer V.K. Raju have mooted the “monkey plan”, as also the proposal for the setting up of a training centre for monkeys. They say the government would do well to establish a “training school” for monkeys with the help of the “foreign faculty” from Sumatra (Indonesia) or Thailand.
The training centre can have a group of monkeys enrolled for the training for three to four months. The trainer would develop a close bond with the monkeys by using kind words and positive emotions which give them the ability to sense things and understand commands properly. “It is like the training that’s given to wild elephants when they become experts in picking logs,” says Mr Vijayakumar. Instructions begin with simple tasks such as spinning a coconut on its stem.
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