Present status and outlook of coconut development in Indonesia

Abstract

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is a socioeconomically important palm in Indonesia, owned mostly by smallholders. Indonesia has the largest coconut palm-growing areas in the world, followed by the Philippines and India. The average national coconut productivity is still lower than the production potency of superior varieties. Indonesia and the Philippines contributed about 67% of crude coconut oil (CNO) export to global market. At present, the global market demand of coconut oil is fluctuating lead to the low price of CNO, while demand for certain coconut products such as coconut water, milk and flour is growing rapidly. This review provides an overview of the present status of coconut development in Indonesia, the recent advances in technologies for coconut improvement and outlook of coconut development toward 2045. Technological, political and socio economic issues including senility, pests and diseases, inferior varieties, poor agronomic practices, land conversion affected the low coconut production, while unfavorable supply chain, narrow product line, low product quality, monoculture-planting system might be affected the economic welfare of farmers. About 6.6 million farmers rely their main source of income on coconut and coconut based-products, which are mostly copra and CNO. Technological and institutional innovations for smallholder in coconut development become important strategies. Producing high value coconut products, establishment of seed farms, replanting of senile palms, pest and disease management, synergy among industries, farmers, and governments as well as research on finding more innovative technologies and technology transfer to solve existing problems are required to ensure the sustainability of coconut sector.