PANJIM: Goa Coconut Farmers Association welcomed the notification through which the coconut tree has been excluded from the list of forest trees as it will facilitate farmers to cut diseased and unproductive coconut trees without any bureaucrat delay. A delegation led by Chairman Subhash Prabhudessai called on Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and handed over a memorandum to him. The delegation included Pravas Naik, Dinar Barros and Datta Naik. A statement from the association says the Coconut Development Board gives a subsidy of Rs 1000 to cut diseased and unproductive coconut trees provided a new coconut tree is planted. Coconut farmers used to find it cumbersome to go through the formalities when the tree was classified as a forest tree. Its exclusion from this list will help productivity and increase the yield of coconuts says the release. The association requested Parsekar to declare coconut tree as State Tree and demanded that if non-coconut farmers who do not possess Krishi Card want to cut more than five coconut trees at a time they should follow some stringent formalities. Other demands of the association included increasing the present support price of Rs 8 per nut to Rs 15 and passing legislation for contract farming and establishing a Coconut Museum in Goa. The association also met Governor Mridula Sinha and requested her to give immediate consent to the bill.