Coconut Growers Research Articles

Coconut Cultivation in South Konkan Region of Maharashtra: A Study of Economic Well-being

A study on economic well-being was conducted in the South Konkan region with 144 sample coconut growers. The objective behind this study was to estimate cost, returns, profitability and financial feasibility of coconut production. The study was conducted by means of adoption index, standard cost concept and financial feasibility measures. Numerous technologies have been suggested by the Regional Coconut Research Station, Bhatye, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, to enhance the quality of coconut production after extensive research in the field. The extent up to which the technologies were adopted was 45.51 per cent overall. This suggested a wide scope for raising the adoption rate. The economic analysis of coconut production in the research area showed that growing coconuts through the use of recommended technology was profitable. It was observed that farmers are saving more on each expense due to the high adoption rate. In coconut cultivation, the net present value was positive (Rs. 230665). The B: C ratio is greater than one (1.41) and the internal rate of return (IRR) is higher than the going interest rate (23.01%). This demonstrated the economic viability of coconut production. The policy should be made to spread the recommendations to the farmers and training should be provided to farmers on larger scale for more profitable production.

Development of an index to measure the managerial competency of coconut growers in coconut-based farming system

Development of an index to measure the managerial competency of coconut growers in coconut-based farming system

Constraints and suggestions by the coconut growers in Tumkur district of Karnataka

Constraints and suggestions by the coconut growers in Tumkur district of Karnataka

Marketing behaviour of coconut growers in the Tumkur district of Karnataka

Marketing behaviour of coconut growers in the Tumkur district of Karnataka

Study of the things that affect the income of coconut farmers

The objective of this research is as follows: The objective is to identify and examine the variables that impact the earnings of coconut growers in the Mentaya Hilir Selatan District. The research findings indicate that the variables of land area (X1), productivity (X2), and pricing (X3) have a simultaneous impact on the income variable (Y). This implies that the independent variables have a concurrent and tangible impact on income or variable (Y) as a whole. The recommendations that can be derived from the findings of this research to enhance outcomes are: The aim is for the findings of this study to serve as a reference and assessment for enhancing coconut business management. Particularly while initiating a coconut cultivation enterprise in Sebamban Village, Mentaya Hilir Selatan District

Integrating Adopter Categories into Adoption Trends among Coconut Growers in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu

Coconut, a versatile tropical fruit, holds significant importance globally, with India being a major contributor to its cultivation. In recent years, innovative practices in coconut cultivation have gained momentum by enhancing yield, quality, and resilience. However, the adoption of coconut production technologies among small-scale farmers remained slow. Therefore this research study aimed to shed light on the dynamic adoption behaviour of coconut growers’ in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. The study comprised of 120 farmers, who were selected through proportionate random sampling from two villages in the Coimbatore district. Based on the adoption of the latest technology available in coconut production, coconut grower’s adoption level was measured using percentage analysis. Findings revealed that the largest adopter category was innovators. The deviation was attributed to the uniqueness of the recommended varieties and coconut tonic adoption, regional cultural influences, and targeted awareness campaigns. The study highlights the importance of tailored awareness campaigns and incentives aimed at promoting innovation adoption among farmers to enhance production. With enhanced adoption of these practices, the coconut farming sector in the Coimbatore district and beyond can experience improved productivity, economic growth, and sustainable development.

Willingness of Coconut Growers to Join Farmer Producer Companies in Western Tamil Nadu–An Exploratory Study

Coconut, a versatile crop called as ‘Kalpaviriksha’ – A tree of Heaven. India, with the rich biodiversity of coconut, is the largest producer with 33.02 percent share or 22167 million nuts of the world's largest production of 67128 million nuts. But still, the farmers facing difficulties in marketing coconut. The constraints pertaining to the marketing of coconut were lack of government procurement system, lack of co-operative marketing, lack of proper market information, monopoly of market intermediaries, fluctuation in market price, and high commission among intermediaries were the major problems faced by the coconut growers. This study analyses the perception and preference of coconut farmers in joining coconut producer companies in the Western Tamil Nadu. Descriptive analysis and Garret raking technique has been used and concluded that price provided by the FPC was good and fair enough compared to the market price, which was the major reason for joining the FPC and lack of awareness on benefits obtained, share capital contribution requirement, and benefits not distributed evenly are the major problem in not joining the FPCs.

First Report of Neopestalotiopsis clavispora causing Leaf Spot on Coconut Seedling in Malaysia.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a high economic value cash crop in Malaysia. In December 2021, irregular spots with dotted rust-like appearance were observed mainly on the tip of the leaves of MATAG variety coconut seedlings at the nursery in Perak state. More than 90% of the coconut seedlings surveyed were infected with leaf spot symptoms. These symptoms could bring huge economic losses due to the downgrade value of the seedlings. 15 symptomatic leaves were obtained from the nursery, 10 mm2 of cut leaves were disinfected with 10% sodium hypochlorite for 10 minutes and rinsed with sterile distilled water before plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA). A total of 4 single-spore isolates were obtained and were observed morphologically. The isolates had white cotton-like appearance with undulate edge. Black acervuli were seen after 7 days of incubation at 26 °C. The conidia were fusiform and contained five cells with four septate and three versicolor cells in between the apical and basal cell. The conidia were 17.2 µm long and 5.9 µm wide (n=30). Conidia consisted of two to three apical appendages and one basal appendage. These morphological characters were consistent with the original description of Neopestalotiopsis clavispora (Santos et al., 2019; Abbas et al., 2022). Species identification was done by amplifying internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region using primers ITS 4 and ITS 5 (White et al., 1990) and beta-tubulin (TUB2) using primers Bt2a and Bt2b (Glass & Donaldson et al., 1995) of the representative isolate LKR1, then sequenced. The 488 bp ITS and 409 bp TUB2 sequences were deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers ON844193 and OP004810, respectively. Isolate LKR1 shares 99.8% identity with the ITS sequence (MH860736.1) of the reference pathogenic N. clavispora strain CBS:447.73 and 100% identity with the TUB2 sequence (KM199443.1) of the reference pathogenic N. clavispora strain CBS 447.73. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the isolate LKR1 belonged to N. clavispora when a supported clade is formed with 98% and 94% bootstrap support for ITS and TUB2 respectively with other related N. clavispora. Pathogenicity test was conducted by using five replicates of 8 month old seedlings, they were incubated under greenhouse condition and were watered daily. The leaves of the seedlings were injured with sterile needles and were sprayed with conidial suspension (1 x 10^6 conidia/ml). The control plants were also injured but sprayed with sterile distilled water. After a month, signature symptoms of spots on the leaves appear but none on the control seedling. N. clavispora was successfully re-isolated only from the inoculated symptomatic leaves and identified morphologically. No fungus was re-isolated from the control seedlings. The result was consistent even after repeating the test one more time. N. clavispora has been reported causing leaf spot on Macadamia integrifolia (Santos et al., 2019), Phoenix dactylifera L. (Basavand et al., 2020) and Musa acuminata (Qi et al., 2022). N. clavispora has also been reported causing rust-like appearance of leaves on strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) (Obregón et al., 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. clavispora causing leaf spot disease on coconut seedlings in Malaysia. Through the identification of N. clavispora as the causal agent of leaf spot on coconut, this can help coconut growers to tackle the disease problem earlier thus, preventing the disease from spreading until the adult phase.

Problems Encountered by Coconut Growers by Adopting TNAU Coconut Tonic and their Perceived Benefits

Aim: The study aims to analyse the problems encountered by Coconut growers by adopting the TNAU Coconut tonic and their perceived benefits.
 Study Design: Ex post facto research design.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Coimbatore district which represents a major coconut-growing tract of the Western zone of Tamil Nadu.
 Methodology: From the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, 120 Coconut growers from three different blocks namely Pollachi (North), Pollachi (South) and Anaimalai block were purposively selected for conducting the study. Data were collected from coconut growers who are all adopting TNAU Coconut tonic. The well-structured pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect data from farmers. Garrett ranking and weighted average method were computed to analyse the constraints and perceived benefits of coconut growers who are all adopting the TNAU Coconut tonic as their nutrient management practices.
 Results: The major constraints were reported by the growers viz., availability of tonic at TNAU (8.75%), Unskilled labour (8.57%), difficulty to identify the root (8.04%), the absorption rate of tonic is low (7.92%), non-availability of labour (7.31%), high cost of labour (7.13%), High cost of crop boosters (6.81%), poor knowledge on the availability of tonic at TNAU Agri cart, Coconut Research Station, Aliyar & Courier services (6.45%) as major constraints. The obtained key benefits include increased chlorophyll content and greenness of leaves (16.93), improved photosynthetic efficiency of leaves (11.73), decreases button shedding (30.53), increased number and size of nut (22.27), increased nut yield up to 20 per cent (18.20), increased longevity and vigour of the palm (19.40) and resistance to pests, diseases and environmental stresses (24.20) shows that maximum number of coconut growers benefited by adopting TNAU Coconut tonic.
 Conclusion: To overcome these constraints, concerted efforts from researchers with government and institutional support set forth the easy adoption of TNAU Coconut tonic. The adoption of TNAU Coconut tonic technology brings forth a multitude of perceived benefits to the coconut growers, along with their conventional, recommended nutrient management practices and the livelihood of coconut growers will be improved.

Empowering Women's Coconut Farmer Groups To Build Family Economic Resilience Based On Local Potential In Tidore Islands City

Coconut farmers' homes may have a poor economy or income since their goods rely solely on one primary commodity: copra and coconut grains. It can potentially upset economic circumstances since, as the price of copra and coconut falls, so does household income. As a result, help for coconut farmers, notably women farmer organizations, is required to boost the economic worth of their coconuts. For example, the economic value of coconut may be improved by producing various coconut-based goods so that farmers are not only reliant on copra prices. According to the survey findings and the identification of problems with the partners of the women's group Tani Igo Jaya, based in Jaya Village, Tidore Islands City, all members have encountered economic difficulties due to the drop-in copra prices. It was exacerbated by the fact that it occurred concurrently with the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result, most coconut growers refuse to process their coconuts into copra, and some coconuts go to waste. The issue is that partners lack expertise and abilities in processing or diversifying processed coconuts, although all components of the coconut fruit may be utilized to generate economic value. The solution that will be applied to partners is the transfer of science, technology, and skills for partners in processing their coconut harvests, as well as the provision of solid business management so that partners are not only reliant on copra. Furthermore, the identification of waste concerns from processed coconut fruit will be minimized since partners can employ coconut water, coconut pulp, and coconut fiber, which are presently considered waste but have promising economic value. This community service project is intended to create a new entrepreneurial group by exploiting possible sources of local raw materials available to partners, and it will directly benefit the economic resilience of coconut growers' homes. This community empowerment activity was successful in increasing partners' knowledge and skills in processing coconut fruit into nine products: coconut confectionery, shredded coconut (serundeng), coconut chips, sweet soy sauce, coconut jam, coconut milk, coconut oil, virgin coconut oil (VCO), and pots, as well as planting media made from coconut coir.

An Analytical Study on Marketing Behaviour of Coconut Growers in Coimbatore District

Coimbatore tops in area and production of coconuts in Tamil Nadu. Though production had been increased in the recent years. Farmers are facing difficulties in finding new marketing channels for their produce and also facing hardships in fetching fair and remunerative price for their nuts. Coconut copra, coconut oil price had also fallen drastically recently. The study was undertaken with the objective of analysing marketing behaviour of coconut growers in Coimbatore district. An Ex- post facto research design was used for this study. The study was taken-up in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. Out of the twelve blocks in Coimbatore district, “Sulthanpet block”, “Pollachi (North)”, “Pollachi (South) block” were selected. A sample size of 120 coconut cultivating farmers was selected by using simple random sampling technique. The required data was collected by personal interview using a well-structured and pretested interview schedule. The result revealed that nearly sixty percent of the respondents (58.33 per cent) had medium level of marketing behaviour, 21.67 per cent of the respondents had low level of marketing behaviour, only 20 per cent of the respondents possessed high level of marketing behaviour. Majority of the respondents sold their produce in village itself; cent percent of the respondents graded and counted their produce. Most of the respondents sold their produce through middlemen. The coconut growers are found to possess medium level of marketing behaviour. Hence, it should be definitely noted down by planners and policy makers at state and district level to make arrangement for marketing the products for maximum price.

EFFECT OF FoCT TRAINING ON ADOPTION OF COCONUT TREE CLIMBING DEVICE FOR HARVESTING COCONUTS

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is an important and versatile tree crop with diverse uses, supporting the livelihood of many farm families in the primary sector, grown in many states of India. Coconuts are known for their great versatility as evidenced by many traditional uses ranging from food to cosmetics. Assamese people prepare different types of edible items from coconut fruit in many festivals. Now, the majority of the coconut growers in Assam were facing the problems of shortage of skilled labour for nut harvesting. The traditional method of harvesting the nuts is quite risky and accident-prone. To overcome this problem, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Barpeta, Assam conducted training for unemployed rural youths in collaboration with Coconut Development Board, Guwahati. The objectives of the FoCT training were to impart training to a group of unemployed youths in developing their technical skills for harvesting of coconuts, to mitigate the problem of non-availability of coconut tree climbers for coconut harvesting. The present study was conducted at KVK, Barpeta (Assam) with an attempt to know the effect of friends of coconut tree (FoCT) training on the adoption of coconut tree climbing devices. For the present study, 40 trainees were selected purposively. The majority 45% of the trainees use the coconut climbing device only for plucking of their own coconut tree followed by 35% who use the coconut climbing device as a source of income generation and 20% of trainees do not at all use the device. Among the two methods of climbing, the advanced method of coconut tree climber takes less time (3-5 minutes) to climb than the traditional method (7-10 minutes). On the other hand, among the two methods of climbing, the advanced method of coconut tree climber harvested a greater number of nuts and many numbers of harvesting trees over the traditional method.

Coconut Growers' Knowledge and Perceptions on Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies in Puttalam District of Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT
 At present climate changes and extreme weather events which are significantly affects the productivity of coconut in the major coconut growing areas in the country and ultimately it will threaten the livelihood of coconut cultivating community. The present study was undertaken to determine the coconut growers’ knowledge and perceptions about climate change and adaptation strategies. The study was conducted in Puttalam district which is more vulnerable to climate change impacts. The study sample comprised of 140 coconut growers. The study findings emphasized that notable fraction of growers have fairly high knowledge and perceptions about climate change and various impacts. Further, age, education and farming experience were found to be positively related and gender, land holding, family size, land ownership were negatively related with growers’ knowledge and perceptions. Additionally, age, family size and education were found to be significantly related with growers’ knowledge and only the family size and education were found to be significantly related with growers’ perceptions. Moreover, growers’ knowledge was positively and significantly related with their perceptions and adaptation measures as well as perceptions also positively and significantly related with adaptation measures. Also, findings showed that significant importance to create extension and awareness campaigns to educate the coconut growers about climate change related risks and uncertainties and suitable adaptation strategies. Therefore, agriculture policy makers should more focus on mitigating impacts of climate change to enhance the sustainable coconut cultivation in the country with providing more information, financial supports and subsidies to growers to adopt suitable adaptation measures. 
 Keywords: adaptation strategies, climate change, coconut growers’ knowledge, perceptions

Understanding the Path Toward Family Economic Well-Being of Coconut Growers

Understanding the Path Toward Family Economic Well-Being of Coconut Growers

Development and performance evaluation of dehusked coconut grading machine

Abstract The objective of this research is to develop a dehusked coconut grading machine for coconut cultivators and entrepreneurs. The basis of design is characterized by a tapered belt conveyor and sizing board with openings of increasing aperture which run along the edge of the belt conveyor. Dehusked coconuts are fed onto the tapered belt conveyor where the gravitational force pushes the nut towards the edge until it comes in contact with sizing board. Due to the tangential force, the nut reels along the sizing board, where dehusked coconuts are graded and allowed to fall through aperture according to their sizes. Performance tests indicated that the inclination angle and velocity of the belt significantly affected contamination ratio, grading efficiency and capacity at 5% significance level. The most efficient configuration for fully husked coconut and semi husked was a belt speed of 1.3 m/s with the inclination angle of 15° and belt speed of 1.5 m/s with the inclination angle of 15° respectively. The machine is acceptable by coconut growers and entrepreneurs.

Coconut Growers Knowledge, Perception and Adoption on Impacts of Climate Change in Gampaha and Puttalam Districts in Sri Lanka: An Index-Based Approach

Climate change and food security are critical topics in sustainable agricultural development. Climate change is expected to have serious environmental, economic and social impacts on Sri Lanka. Coconut growers’ knowledge, perception level and adoption for climate change adaptation measures have influenced productivity of the coconut cultivation. The study investigated the coconut growers’ knowledge gap, knowledge and perception levels regarding impacts of climate change in Gampaha and Puttalam districts. Further, this study investigated their adoption of different adaptation measures. A stratified random sampling technique was applied for selecting 240 respondents from two different districts. Structured questionnaire and interview schedule were used to elicit information from the respondents and data was analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. Adoption rate of the climate change adaptation measures is significantly influenced by coconut growers’ knowledge and perception level at varying degrees. The study revealed that most of the growers in two study areas have better knowledge (> 70%) and perceptions (>60%) regarding the gradual changes in the climate and its impact on their coconut cultivation. However, their adaptation behavior is fairly poor (< 50%) in both districts. Hence government policies should more focused on to coconut growers to have access to affordable credit to increase their ability and flexibility to change adaptation strategies in response to the changing climatic conditions. Increasing growers’ access to agricultural extension services and access to information on weather forecasting are very important. In addition, government should improve and promote off-farm income-earning opportunities during dry seasons.

Decomposing the performance metrics of coconut cultivation in the South Indian States

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is extensively cultivated and used as a staple ingredient in Indian cuisines, especially in the South Indian cuisines. In India, other than edible purposes, coconut is widely used in religious practices and, it is considered as symbol of prosperity. Despite these facts, several upturns and downturns occurring in the growth trends of coconut in recent periods irrespective of geographical differences. This study attempts to decipher the growth trends in the area, the production and yield of coconut in major coconut producing states in India from 2000–2001 to 2017–2018. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are the states in India where coconut palms are extensively cultivated and produced in large quantities. These states together contribute to approximately 84 per cent of the total area for cultivation of coconut and account for over 87 per cent of total production in the country. We analyse the growth trends in coconut cultivation using appropriate growth equations to estimate the growth rates and instabilities in growth trends. Besides, we use decomposition analysis to find the role of area, price, yield and crop mix effects on coconut production. The results reveal that Karnataka secured high growth in coconut production and its productivity and recorded better acceleration but fluctuated heavily between the phases of years under investigation. It shows that the price effect and yield effect play a crucial role in the total change of coconut production among the selected states. Based on the results, we recommend the local governments and other dedicated authorities to ensure that coconut growers have better access to modern technology, quality inputs, marketing and credit facilities following local necessity. Eventually, these measures can attract and encourage many new farmers into coconut cultivation and thereby achieving better advances in coconut farming.

English

English

Water productivity assessments for dwarf coconut by using Landsat 8 images and agrometeorological data

In the coastal areas of Northeast Brazil, coconut growers are replacing the tall varieties by the dwarf ones, following incentives for the coconut’s water market. The current study aimed to determine and analyze actual evapotranspiration (ET) and biomass production (BIO), for dwarf coconut water productivity (WP) assessments. This was done to subsidize the rational irrigation and crop management, by using Landsat 8 images together with agrometeorological data during the year 2016 in the Camocim County, coastal zone of Ceará state. The SAFER (Simple Algorithm for Evapotranspiration Retrieving) algorithm was used to retrieve ET, while for BIO estimations we applied the Monteith’s radiation use efficiency model (RUE), then the water productivity based on ET was calculated (WPET = BIO/ET). The highest ET and BIO rates, above 4.0 ± 0.6 mm d−1 and 140 ± 37 kg ha−1 d−1, respectively, happened from May to July, retrieving WPET pixel values larger than 3.5 kg m−3. It was noticed some water stress conditions, with the fraction ET to reference evapotranspiration (ET0) dropping below 0.60 from the start of August to the end of the year, affecting the WPET values. Considering also WP in terms of fruits and coconut’s water produced, it averaged 1.9 coconut fruits and 0.8 L of coconut water per cubic meter of water consumed, respectively. The results can support techniques for irrigation water storage at the palm root zones, while increasing dwarf coconut yield in Northeast Brazil.

Entrepreneurial Behaviour of Coconut Growers of Coimbatore District

Entrepreneurial Behaviour of Coconut Growers of Coimbatore District