Kanyakumari District is on the border of Kerala which is famous for the coconut trees. Hence the district had plenty of coconut trees. Also coconut is having application in all food items and it is very essential for the day to day life in the district and hence coconut was the important crop in the seventies.
After the introduction of hybrid rubber crops, the coconut farms are replaced with rubber plantations due to the commercial value for rubber. Also due to educational background and development, there is shortage of man power in climbing coconut trees. The remaining coconut plantations are drastically cut down and replaced due to lack of labour in climbing coconut trees to harvest the coconut. Further coconut tree climbing is highly male dominated profession and due to booming of construction sector, there is occupational shift. One day a male can climb 20 trees and he can earn 4USD whereas he can earn 10 USD for 6 hours work in construction sector.
Due to lack of labour and also considering the importance of coconut trees, CREDSO has conducted a survey among women members and the response was very good. The women can do 2 hours work by climbing 10 trees and can earn minimum 2 USD a day. It is an alternate income for the family that will reflect in socio-economic development of the family.
