Cultivation practices of coconut

1. Production technology for fruit and plantation crops-
HT-244 (2+1)
PRESENTED BY:
RAKESH KUMAR PATTNAIK
Asst. Prof. Horticulture
MITS INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Dt- 16-06-20
LECTURE 12. COCONUT

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Cocos nucifera L.
Family: Arecaceae.
Origin of coconut : Malaysia or Indonesia
Introduction:
 It is considered as Kalpavriksha as it provides the basic necessities of
life.
 Coco = Spanish word meaning monkey face (probably refers to the
three scars on the base of the shell resembling two eyes and a nose of
monkey face.
 Average national coconut productivity = 40 to 50 nuts per palm
per year.
 Research and Development on coconut in India
 CPCRI: The important organizations conducting research on coconut
in India include Central Plantation Crops Research Institute under
ICAR and state Agril. Universities.

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Area and Production of coconut in the world
 Kerala stands first in India in area and
production of coconut while productivity is
highest in Andhra Pradesh.
Major problems of Coconut production in India
1. Root wilt disease in coconut and = Mainly in South
Kerala
2. Fluctuation in prices of coconut.
Composition and uses of coconut
1) Nut :
1) Coconut water – increases blood circulation in kidneys
, i.e., diuretic and eliminates mineral poisoning.
2) Kernel
3) Shell
4) Husk

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 Coconut water
 Nata De cocoa:
3) Kernel/ meat Fresh form is used in
Culinary preparations.
Composition of fresh coconut
Water = 45 per cent
Protein = 04 per cent
Fat = 37 per cent
Minerals = 4 per cent
Carbohydrate = 10 per cent
4) Copra: Dried kernel. Richest source of vegetable fat containing 60 to 67 per cent oil
There are two types of copra i.e.,
1) Ball copra =Whole = It is prepared by storing fully mature nuts ( unhusked) for 8 to 12 months.
2) Cup copra= split into two halves = Cup copra is used for house hold purpose in North India,
since fresh nuts are not available for edible purpose.
Oil = 60 to 67 per cent
 Lauric oil :
 Virgin coconut oil
 Oil cake
 Coir Pith
 Coconut Shell based Products
 Husk
 Stage of nut maturity for best
quality coir = 10th month stage
 Husk in coconut is about 30 to 45
per cent of nut weight on ripening.
 In the husk about 30 per is fibre
and 70 per cent is coir dust.
6) Toddy:

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Climate and Soil for coconut
Climate
Tropical palm :Coconut is a tropical palm preferring humid tropical climate.
Best yields from coconut plantations are realized under the following conditions;
1) Latitude: Ninety per cent of coconut in the world is grown between 20º N and 20 º S from equator.
2) Altitude: Generally upto 600m. Can be grown at higher elevation (1000 m.) at higher elevations if near equator.
3) Temperature: = 27 to 32 º C , Mean annual temperature of 27 º C with a diurnal (hagalina or pratidinada) variations of 6 to
7 ºC is ideal.( Hence, in North India we cant grow coconut profitably)
4) Rainfall: 1,800 to 2,500 mm per year, well distributed
5) A sun loving palm : Insolation/sunlight: Coconut being a sun loving palm requires plenty of sunlight and does not come up
well under shade.
Requirement of sun light hours : It requires 7.1hrs. of sunshine per day;; 2000 hrs or more per year.
Palms under shade will be lean, lanky and unproductive.
6) Humidity: Coconut likes tropical humid climate and 80 to90 per cent relative humidity (RH) is ideal.

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Soils for coconut cultivation
Ideal soils for better growth should be
1) Well drained
2) Deep: At least 1 to 1.5 m deep,
3) PH = 5.20 to 8
4) Rich in organic matter with good water holding capacity
Cultivars and hybrids in coconut
1) Tall palms and 2) Dwarf palms:

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I Tall Varieties: West Coast Tall (WCT), East Coast Tall (ECT), Lakshadweep Ordinary (Chandra Kalpa),
Lakshadweep Micro (LM), Andaman Ordinary, Phillippines Ordinary ( Kerachandra)
II Dwarf Varieties: These are shorter in stature and life span as compared to talls. They start flowering in 3-4
years, grow rapidly and bear heavily but have a tendency of irregular bearing. Size of copra and quality is
inferior to talls.
Eg: Choughat Dwarf Orange (it is superior to dwarf green in yield and quality) , chowghat Dwarf green,
Malayan Dwarf yellow, Malayan Dwarf Green, Malayan Dwarf Orange and Gangabondam (grown popularly in
AP), Coconino ( grown in phillippines for good quality toddy production)
Dwarfs are usually grown for
 tender nut production
 Hybrid production and
 for ornamental value

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ESTABLISHMENT OF COCONUT PLANTATION
1)SELECTION OF SITE:
Avoid
 Low lying areas subject to water stagnation,
 Shallow soils with underlying hard rock i.e., At least 1 to 1.50 m deep
 Clayey soils: Can be reclaimed by heaping alternate layers of sand and clay.
 Shady situations is avoided
2) PLANTING MATERIALS: Coconut is a cross pollinated palm and selection at various stages is very important to eliminate poor quality seed nuts and
seedlings. Coconut being perennial, the performance of palm can be judged only after 15 years of planting.
Selection of Mother palm, Seed nuts and seedlings in coconut
A. Selection of Seed Plantation
In every coconut growing country certain areas of reputation in coconut production like Arasikere and Tiptur in Karnataka are identified as Centres of
Coconut mother palm selection.
The selected plantation should be
 Having high proportion of heavy bearing palms.
 Free from major pest and diseases.
 Avoid small plantation maintained under very favorable conditions as we can not assess the inherent yield potential. Avoid palms located near the cattle shed
and compost pits.

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B) SELECTION OF MOTHER PALMS
Adequate care should be taken while selecting mother palms in coconut as to avoid palms of low genetic
potential. Take care to select mother palms based on the following features in a reputed coconut seed
plantation.
1. Age of the palms: It should attain a age of at least 20 years and not above 60
years of age. Select palms which have attained full bearing stage and have been
giving regularly high yields for atleast four years (if it is from unknown parentage). However, seed nuts can
be collected from newly established seed gardens irrespective of its age as it comes form the progeny of
known parentage.
2. Yield: Selected palms should be a regular high yielder yielding
 not less than 100 nuts per palm per year
 Not less than 150 g copra content per nut ( Nut weight = 1.20 kg unhusked and 0.60 kg husked)
3. Shape of the crown (Nature and disposition of leaves on the crown): In coconut total number of fronds on
the crown should be more than 30 and generally crown shape is

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4. Nature,
5. Size and shape of nuts: Fully dried unhusked nuts should
weigh more than 1.20
kg a
C) SELECTION OF SEED NUTS
Season of nut collection:
Maturity of nuts:
Resonant or ringing sound on tapping:
Browning of inner fibers:
Storage of seed nuts :
D) SELECTION OF SEEDLINGS
Early germination:
Vigourous seedlings:

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METHODS OF SOWING SEED NUTS IN COCONUT
 Vertical method of sowing seed nuts:
 Horizontal method:
 Raising of nursery
 Poly bag nursery for coconut sowing
 Planting in coconut
 TIME OF PLANTING
 PREPARATION OF PITS FOR PLANTING

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MANURING IN COCONUT
 Organic manure: 50 kg per palm per year.
 Addition of neem cake @ 1 to 5 kg per palm is also
beneficial / recommended.
 RDF for coconut (4th year onwards) : 500 : 330 :
1200 g NPK per palm per year
West coast =Basin method= 200 liters per palm per
irrigation at four days intervals.
West coast= Drip irrigation = 32 litres per palm per
day (at 66 % of open pan
evaporation) = 30 to 40 liters per palm per day
Ring method = 60 liters per palm per day

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 Cover cropping in coconut  Multiple cropping in coconut: INTERCROPPING:
Tropical Tuber crops like tapioca, elephant foot yam, sweet potato, colocasia, greater yam, lesser yam,
2) Rhizome spice crops: Ginger and turmeric
3) Cereals: Upland rice varieties, Maize, pearl millet, finger millet ( Eleusine corecana),
4) Vegetable: in maidan areas of Karnataka= Chillies, potato, French beans,
Kasaragod (Coastal tract) conditions = Coccinia, snake gourd, bottle gourd, amaranthus, brinjal, bitter gourd,
5) Pulses =Cowpea, black gram, green gram, red gram, Bengal gram, soya bean, in maidan tracts of Karnataka. Under
Kerala conditions it is horse gram, cow pea, green gram, and black gram,
6) Oil seeds : ground nut,
7) Fruit crops: Banana and pine apple. Papaya can also can be intercropped with coconut.
8) Floriculture: Orchids, anthuriums, and other cut flowers and ornamentals can be successfully grown in coconut
plantation.
9) Medicinal and aromatic plants: Lemon grass, Kacholam, dioscorea, arrow root, sida, hippali (Long pepper), neela amari,
Patcholi (Pogostemon , ) adapathiyan

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MIXED CROPPING : Growing of perennial crops in
association with coconut palm is referred to as coconut based
mixed cropping.
Eg. Cocoa, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, betel vine, jack,
bread fruit, cardamom, coffee, vanilla and mango
Plant Protection in coconut
Pests:
1) Rhinocerus beetle
2) Leaf eating caterpiller Red palm weevil
3) Root grubs
4) Mites , Eriophid mite Mealy bugs
5) Scales
6) Coreid bugs
7) Rats etc
Diseases:
1. Bud rot Stem bleeding
2. Anabe roga
3. Pestalotia leaf spot /Grey leaf spot :
4. Thanjavar wilt / Ganoderma wilt:
5. Root (wilt) disease:
6. Mahali or fruit rot and nut fall:
Other diseases: 1) Button shedding, 2)
Production of barren nuts, 3) Root wilt, 4)
Tatipaka in AP 5) Leaf yellowing and 6)
Tapering or pencil point disease.

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Harvest and yield in coconut:
Pre bearing age in coconut :
 Tall : 6 to 7 years
 Dwarfs : 3 to 4 years
 Hybrids : 4 to 5 years.
Longivity of the palm :
 Talls = 70-80 years, and
 Dwarfs = 40 - 50 years.
Stage of harvesting :
 For getting copra fully matured
nuts (Ripen nuts ) are harvested.
 For tender nut purpose : 6 to 7th
months stage
Yield: 80 to 100 nuts per palm per year. (National average yield is 44 nuts
per palm per year)
Hybrids: 100 to 130 nuts per palm per year,
Storage and seasoning of harvested nuts:
Harvested nuts are stored or seasoned before further processing. This practice
has the following advantages:
 Decrease in moisture content,
 Increase in thickness of copra
 Increase in oil content,
 Greater meat resistance to bacterial sliming while sun drying,
 Easier husking,
 Cleaner and easier shelling,
 Uniform quality of copra,

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Post harvest processing
Copra processing
• Moisture : 6 per cent
• Oil content : 71 per cent
• Acid value : 2.5 per cent
• Foreign matter : 0.5 per
cent
• Mouldy cups : 5 per cent
• Wrinkled cup : 5 per cent
(free)
• Black copra : 1 per cent
(free)
 Coconut Value Addition
 Tender coconut water:
 Coconut chips :
 Virgin Coconut Oil
 Husk: About 30 per cent of husk is fibre
and 70 per cent is coir dust
 Coconut shell charcoal
 Handicrafts from coconut
 Coconut wood

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