Fr i d a y, O c to b e r 1 2 , 2 01 2

mong the three major commercial crops of Sri Lanka, coconut (Cocos nusifera) has a special place. Some of the factors that make coconut important are cultivation of around one million coconut acres, present production of 2,700 to 3,000 million coconuts annually, providing livelihood to 700,000 small coconut land owners, employment generation of more than 100,000 in the coconut industry, receiving an annual income of 47,305 million rupees on exportation of various coconut products in the year 2011. Seventy per cent of the local coconut production that sums up to around 2,000 million coconuts is taken for local consumption. Annual coconut consumption per person is 106 nuts. If the price of a coconut is assumed to be 25 rupees the cost of the annual coconut consumption would be around 50,000 million rupees. Therefore on self sufficiency of food, coconut would only be second to rice. Coconut is a food crop. It is also an industrial and export crop. As there are so many products that comes from various parts of the coconut tree, it is referred to as `the tree of life' or Kapruka (Diagram 1).

carbon and products based on coir.

Development in coconut export products

Coconut oil is manufactured mainly in this regard and desiccated coconut takes the second place. There is a significant improvement in the products based on coconut kernel in the recent past. Organic coconut products, virgin coconut oil, processing of coconut water, party food, olio chemicals based on coconut and bio diesel are some of these products. Palm oil is the main vegetable oil which would be able to compete with coconut oil. But with the special qualities possessed by coconut oil it has been able to regain world's focus on it. Some of the reasons are containing NCT, a good fatty acid, it is easily used for production of body energy, it helps healthy maintenance of skin and hair. Due to its anti bacterial activity it provides immunity to some of the diseases and it is being used as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease which decreases the memory power of the brain. Among the products on the coconut kernel, in addition to desiccated coconut there have been developments in the products such as coconut sugar, coconut milk powder, coconut cream and coconut milk. Four hundred grams of coconut sugar could be obtained from a bottle of coconut honey. As it mainly contains a type of sugar called fructose, coconut sugar is regarded as a safe sugar which could be consumed by patients suffering from diabetes which is the most common disease in the world. Therefore it is a medicine as it has a low glycimine value which is in the range of 20 to 30. In Philippines alone, 70,000 metric tons of coconut sugar has been produced in the year 2011. A most recent development is the processing of coconut water as a drink. People's choice for artificial drinks is on the decrease as the coconut water is natural, nutritious, fresh and healthy. It is referred to as the `fluid of life' as it is so good for the human body. Because of its richness in minerals like potassium it has been popular as a drink among sportsmen. Hundred milliliters of coconut water contains around 19 to 24 calories and the same quantity of orange juice has 43 calories. Therefore as the coconut water is a drink with low calories while contains higher amount of minerals and salts it helps sportsmen to maintain a healthy body. The expor-

Global coconut industry

Coconut is cultivated in more than 93 countries around the world. Total area of the land cultivated is 12 million hectares. Annual total coconut production is around 61,165 million nuts. Indonesia is the largest coconut producing country in the world and Sri Lanka is entitled to the fourth place. There has been an increase in the total coconut production in the world due to the increase in the area of cultivated lands. But there has not been much increase in the production on a unit area of a cultivated land. More attention should be focused on this point as there have been significant increase in the production on a unit area of a cultivated land in other competitive crops such as oil palm. Globally the annual export value of total coconut products is around 1.2 billion dollars. Though there are more than 50 products that could be obtained from the coconut tree, there are only 10 major export products namely copra, coconut oil, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut milk powder, coconut cream, chemical products from coconut, coconut shell charcoal, active

tation of coconut water which started in Brazil in 1995 today has exceeded 400 million dollars. In Sri Lanka too the exportation of coconut water has been started recently and it is expected to grow and develop rapidly in a short period of time. World's major artificial drink producers like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Seiko and Veeta Coco has now focused on the sale of coconut water. The cow's milk and its products have been most popular in the world. Therefore there is a shortage of cow's milk throughout the world and its price is also high. Coconut milk has been developing as a good replacement for cow's milk as it is a type of milk based on plants or a phyto milk. It has been proved very healthy for the human body by the researchers conducted. Therefore the introduction of coconut milk as a drink and coconut ice cream has been able to make a super challenge to the normal milk products. Coconut shell charcoal is obtained from the burning of coconut shells. Though it is a source of energy it has been recently developed for active carbon. As the active carbon is a raw material in the purification industries like water and gold it has been an imported product in all developed countries and its price is on the increase. There is a big demand for natural fibre like jute. But the most natural and attractive type of fibre is the coconut fibre. The highest quality type of fibre is the `Bristol' type of coir fibre which is produced only in Sri Lanka. Therefore Sri Lanka is the leading country exporting coconut fibre. But there are number of lessons we could learn from India on coconut fibre industry. India exports fibre as fibre finished goods and earns high foreign exchange from it. Main by product coming with coir products is coir pith. It is a planting material and is the most suitable replacement for peat which is becoming less available in the world. Coir pith has become the planting material for crops, vegetables and flowers grown in green houses. In 2011 the value of coir pith exported from Sri Lanka was 4,365 million rupees. By exposing coir pith to the activities of micro organism, compost fertilizer (c-compost) could be produced which is suitable for commercial crops. Indian researchers have been able to produce ethanol from coir pith using micro organism.

Processing of chemical material from coconut oil is a major industry in the world. Goods produced from this industry include skin ointments and cleaning material. Glycerin is a vital by product of this. Coconut cultivation has been able to provide a solution to world's energy shortage. Coconut oil is used as a bio diesel. In the Philippines it has been made compulsory to mix two percent coconut oil with ordinary petroleum diesel. In 2030 the Philippines is planning to increase the said percentage up to 10. In China and Taiwan coconut oil has been used as a diesel for air craft and it has been used as a lubricant.

ment of the quality and usefulness of coconut consumption will help to further improve the confidence of the coconut consumers. It will increase the demand for coconut and the supply also could be improved accordingly. More attention needs to be focused on research development and market strategies on new products.

Dr. H. A. Jayantha Gunathilake

Director - Sri Lanka Coconut Research Institute
Guidance

A.P.Jagath Pushpakumara
Minister - Cocount Development and Janatha Estate Development Advice

Nihal Somaweera

Coconut for the future

In the above circumstances it is understood that coconut has taken a prominent place as a vital food crop and an industrial crop. In the future coconut would be a most vital crop needed for the fields including food, industries and energy.

Secretary- Cocount Development and Janatha Estate Development Ministry Conductors Duglas Nanayakkara - Add. Sec. (Management) D.M.L. Bandaranayaka - Add. Sec. (Development)

Sarath Keerthirathne
Chairman - Cocount Cultivation Board Coordination N.S. Wanasinghe - Acting Director (Planning) Cocount Development and Janatha Estate Development Ministry T.V.D.D.S. Karunarathna - General Manager Cocount Cultivation Board Dr. Jayantha Gunathilaka - Director Cocount Research Institute

Overcoming the challenges in coconut industry

Coconut industry has its own challenges. Its production capacity has to be increased to compete with crops like palm oil. Therefore to obtain higher production new varieties of coconut has to be introduced by artificial pollination. For various products different varieties of coconut has to be introduced. For example for coconut water short variety of coconut has to be pollinated among the other trees of the same variety. As for the coconut production there is a big difference between the potential yield of a land and its research yield. Therefore ordinary coconut production level of a coconut cultivator has to be improved up to the potential yield. Researches done on improve-

Nayana Bandara
Director General - Cocount Development Authority Photography - Ministry Media Unit Photo Editing

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