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One million rupee prize for the man who invents a coconut-picking machine
An Indian government department is offering one million rupees to the person who can devise a way to harvest coconuts without having to shimmy up the vast palms.
The prize – equivalent to £12,500 – is in reaction to a decline in coconut palm climbers, caused because young men now shun the arduous job in favour of white collar work.
The Kerala industries department is now casting around for the "most innovative idea to pluck coconuts while standing on the ground".
Industries minister Elamaram Kareem said the innovation should be one that could be used by everyone.
"It should be a simple method that can be used by women and even old people to pluck coconuts without climbing the tree. We call upon anyone to develop a product that can be used to pluck coconuts while standing on the ground. Anyone wanting to go ahead with this should submit a design and if it is approved, they will be given £12,500 to develop it."
The decline in coconut pickers began when Kerala, where the majority of the crop is harvested, became independent and gradually broke free from the ancient caste system and its rules on what jobs people are born into.
“Kerala is proud to have broken down caste oppression, but it means young people are just not interested in becoming coconut harvesters these days,” T. Balakrishnan, the principal secretary for industries in Kerala, told The Times. “It’s not a very glamorous job.”