May 20, 2002	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1423

Indonesia and the Philippines are the world’s two biggest coconut producers with India being third on the list. Papua New Guineas leads in the Pacific region, Tanzania in Africa, and Mexico in Latin America. In the last 20 years there had been a marginal increase in both coconut area and production.

The tree yields multi-products as in some countries, its root is used as clean the teeth due to its healthy effects on gum. Around 70 items are produced and exported by the coconut producing countries. Philippines lists about 40 non-traditional products ranging from the coconut oil-based fatty alcohol to handicrafts, while India and Sri Lanka ship out a wide range of fibre products.

There are numerous opportunities within this sector in which small-scale producers can add value through product diversification, technology improvements and enhanced market access. Production of coconut sugar is one of them. It was observed that the income of coconut farmers could rise five times if they tap the tree and process the sap into sugar rather than depend only on its fruit. Traditionally, it is a cottage industry in the Philippines and has been a source of brisk income to augment the measly wage of coconut farmers. Charcoal making, handicrafts are some of the large number of traditional products that could be derived from the coconut fruits and trees.

The Sindh Forest Department created the Coconut Division with its headquarters at Thatta in 1982 and a scheme; ‘coconut plantation in Sindh,’ was implemented during 1982-1988.

Under the scheme, coconut plantation of improved varieties was established on the government land at Garhko over an area of 95 acres. Good quality seed of tall and hybrid varieties was imported from Sri Lanka and 115,977 seedlings were provided to the farmers of the area on subsidized rates. A replacement project was started in 1988-89 where plantation was increased to 225 acres. The area and production of coconut has not shown significant increase during the last many years.

Coconut production system: Land preparation is the first task. A good land preparation is necessary for proper and rapid growth of the palm. The irrigation should be applied after completion of the planting process. Seed nuts are to be planted in a nursery bed prior to field planting.

Coconut depends heavily on soil nutrients and removes a substantial amount, particularly nitrogen, phosphorus and potash from the soil. Survey results show that there is very little use of fertilizer in coconut orchards, which shows that growers are unaware of the advantages of the chemical fertilizer. It was investigated that the growers did not recognize the importance of potash in coconut orchards.

The weeding of coconut depends on local conditions such as, soils and climate. In general weeding is essential for young plant because they compete with the palms for essential elements such as the minerals, the nutrients, water and light. The availability of these elements determines the competition between the weed and the crop.

Three types of coconut varieties are available in the study area for planting i.e. tall, dwarf and hybrid. The first and second varieties are easily available and can be distinguished from each other. The third variety is less common and difficult to obtain in the study area. This variety is a cross between the tall and the dwarfs varieties.

Water management in coconut orchards is important but little scientific information is available on this subject. It can play an important role not only in the growth and development but also in the retention of fruits, thereby affecting yield. It has been observed that most of the growers did not give full attention to plant protection measures, and therefore, yields were often affected badly, in terms of both quantity and quality.

Considerable scope exists for intercropping in coconut fields and this could be attributed largely to several ecological, agronomic and socio-economic conditions. The long unproductive period of the coconut palm makes intercropping more attractive as an alternate source of income from young coconut plantations. In the coastal area of Sindh, growers have started to utilize inter spaces between the trees until they become mature. Results show that 75 per cent of the coconut growers practice intercropping.

Coconut harvesting is either done by climbing or with the use of a sharp curved knife, which is attached to a light bamboo or aluminium pole.

Factors such as wind, rain and insulation affect the performance of harvesters. Also some climbers use rope to support their ankles while climbing or cut steps on the trunk to make climbing easy.

The later method causes considerable damage to the trunk and is not recommended because it also serves as entry points for pathogens and insects. Besides, the timber value of the trunk decreases significantly. Coconut harvesting in the study area found that 100 per cent of the growers harvested by climbing. A harvester climbs on the tree and drops nuts on the ground without any protection. Most of the nuts get damaged.

Economic analysis: Coconut cultivation is an economic and resource allocation decision, not only to plant on a price of land, but also for continuous care and application of inputs round the year. Growers have to decide weather they allocate their scarce resources (land, labour, capital and machinery) to plant coconut or they should utilize these resources for other crops, taking account of both fixed and variable costs.

Conclusion and recommendations: The soil and climatic conditions of coastal area in Sindh has provided great opportunities for the speedy growth and the development of coconut. The development of coconut orchards alongside the coastal belt not only makes the country self-sufficient in edible oil, but also helps in overcoming the problem of de-forestation and environmental degradation in Pakistan. To enhance the income of the small growers and to improve the economic condition of the poor is the responsibility of the government. The government should not only increase per acre yield of major crops, but should also encourage growers to cultivate value-added crops in the region. The cultivation of new crops like sunflower, canola and soybean etc., has already failed in the province due to their competition with the major crops. However, cultivation of coconut in the coastal area has tremendous potentials.

* In the coastal area there is sufficient area under cultivable waste, on which coconut can be grown successfully;

* Coconut has no competition with the existing crops in the region;

* There is high net income from the coconut cultivation compared to other crops grown in the study area.

The economic analysis of coconut cultivation has been carried out on the basis of primary data collected from the coastal area of Sindh. The major problems in coconut cultivation is identified as poor planting material, high initial cost, lack of information, poor management operations and low input use. Thus analysis clearly indicates that this crop has a tremendous scope in the coastal area for future development and expansion.