India has the highest level of productivity in natural rubber and coconuts. While natural rubber productivity has grown rapidly, that of coconuts has barely increased over time. This paper seeks an explanation for this differential performance in terms of relative rates of diffusion of new technologies facilitated by their respective Sectoral Systems of Innovation. The SSI of rubber consists of an articulated regulatory policy mechanism which ensured that the new technologies that were generated by the research arm of the regulatory body itself were adopted by the farmers. Contrary to this, in coconuts there appear not much evidence of diffusion of new technologies and its SSI is characterised by a lack of cohesiveness with a multiplicity of actors operating at sub-optimal scales. However, some concerted efforts have been made over the last 10 years or so to develop new technologies and its diffusion among farmers and this has started bearing fruit in the form of increases in productivity, specifically since 1995-96.