Introduction:
The Coconut palm is one of the most useful plants in the world. It is grown in more than 80 countries of the world. Indonesia and the Philippines are the first and the second largest coconut producing country in the world. India being the third largest coconut producing country having an area of about 1.78 million hectares under the crop. Annual production is about 7562 million nuts with an average of 5295 nuts per hectare.

South East Asia is regarded as the origin of Coconut. It is mainly cultivated in Philippines, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Fizi, Samoa, Solomon Islands etc.

Major Growing Areas:
The major coconut growing states in India are Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, A.P, Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Goa, Daman and Diu, Lakshwadeep, Gujarat. Kerala tops in production accounting 54 percent of total production in the country.

Types of Coconut:
There are mainly two distinct groups of coconut i.e. tall and the dwarf, (semi-tall also exists in between). VHC3 is the recently developed hybrid coconut in variety. Among the plantation and spice crops, India is the first country to exploit hybrid vigor in coconut. Twelve hybrids involving tall and dwarf parents and 4 varieties have been released for commercial cultivation.

Characteristics of Tall varieties:-

1.  Slow growing and late bearing (6 to 10 years after planting)
2.  Highly cross-pollinated (because male and female phases do not overlap as male
     flowers mature and release pollen earlier than the female flowers come in receptive
     stage)
3.  Comparatively hardy type, and lives upto a ripe age of 80 to 120 years.
4.  Its copra, oil and fiber are of good quality.
5.  Nuts mature within a period of 12 months after pollination.

Characteristics of Dwarf varieties:-
 

1.  They are fast growing and bear early i.e. takes 4 to 5 years (hybrids begin to bear 
     from 3rd year)

2.  They are self-pollinated (due to overlapping of male and female phases).

3.  These are less hardy and require better soil and congenial climatic conditions for
     higher yield potential.

4.  The colour of the nuts varies i.e. yellow, red, green and orange.

Harvesting:
 

It is done by cutting whole bunch of nuts by lowering down with the help of coir rope tied in the bunch, but sometimes individual nut may be harvested. Mainly harvesting of coconuts depends on the use of its nuts, for example-

i)    If coconut water is required, the nuts of 5-6 months of age are harvested.

ii)   If copra is needed (for culinary purposes), the nuts of 8-10 months are harvested.

iii)  If dry copra is needed for coconut oil extraction and for other purposes, then fully
     ripe nuts of 10-12 months or so are harvested.

Coconut Uses:

coconut is a product having multifarious utility. It is noticeable that almost all the parts of freshly grown coconut, eatable coconut or dried are used in some or the other manner.
 

1)  Coconut water or milk is an excellent natural soft drink for all. It is useful for
     diabetics and heart patients. It is very useful to people suffering from diarrhea and
     vomiting. It helps in increasing blood circulation in the kidneys.

2)  Oil is extracted from dry copra. Copra contains about 65 to 75 percent oil. Copra is
     also used in the preparation and decoration of cakes. Sweets such as Ladoo, Barfi
     etc are prepared from it.

3)  The unopened  spathe  is   tapped   for  toddy .  This toddy can be converted into
     jaggery, vinegar and sugar.

4)  Kernel (wet meat) is mainly used in making curries,  chutney, toffee, sweet and for
     other cooking purposes.

5)  Coir, the fibrous husk  of  the  coconut,  is used in  a   surprisingly large number of
     ways.  Ropes  and  yarns,   aquarium  filters ,  car  seat covers ,  flower   pots,
     soundproofing,   mulch   for   plant  growing ,   heat   insulation , brushes, bristles,
     mattresses,  door  mats  and  matting,  rugs,  carpets...  the list  goes on and on!

6)  Leaves are used for making thatch, jhaps and for other purposes while leaflets are
     collected and composted.

7)  Coir pith (or) coir dust is used as a soil conditioner (manure).

8)  Midribs and leaf petioles are used for making brooms.

9)  Inflorescence bunk  stalk,  stipules and dried spathe are used for warming water or
     for cooking purpose.

10) Coconut shell is used for making fancy items, house holds utensils etc.

11) Decoction obtained from roots is used as mouthwash and gargle.

12) Coconut  oil  is  one of  the most  important edible oil for domestic use. It has also
     some medicinal value (as it prevents skin diseases like Eczema).

Copra:

Copra, the dried kernel is the chief commercial product from coconut, which is mainly used for oil extraction. Copra normally has an oil content varying from 65 to 72 per cent.
Two types of copra namely milling and edible are made in India. Milling copra is used to extract oil while edible grade of copra is consumed as a dry fruit and used for religious purposes. Milling copra is generally manufactured by adopting sun drying and artificial means. Substantial quantity of milling copra is manufactured using modern hot air driers resulting in the availability of superior quality copra, which is required for the manufacture of best grade coconut oil. A good number of farmers' co-operative societies are also involved in the manufacture and marketing of milling copra. Milling copra is available in different grades. Edible copra is made in the form of balls and cups. Different grades of edible copra are available in the market according to the size, color etc.

Coconut Cake:
 

Coconut cake is the residue left after the extraction of oil from copra which is mainly used as a cattle feed. Coconut cake contains 4-5 per cent oil which is extracted by solvent extraction process. This oil is generally used for industrial purpose and de-oiled cake is used to make mixed cattle feed. There are a few such units in the country especially in Kerala. 

Coconut Oil:

Coconut oil is an important cooking medium in Southern parts of the country especially in Kerala State. Besides, the oil has varied industrial applications. It is used in the manufacture of toilet soaps, laundry soaps, surface-active agents and detergents, hair tonics, cosmetics, etc. It is used throughout the country as hair oil as it helps growth of the hair. As massage oil it has a cooling effect on the body. Owing to these qualities coconut oil has a potential market in the country. Since the price of coconut oil in the international market is very much lower than the domestic price, the quality and attractiveness of consumer packs are important factors to compete in the world market. While the demand for coconut oil for cooking purpose is elastic, its demand as hair oil is inelastic.

Demand Supply situation in India:

If we look at the demand and supply situation of Coconut we find that demand is much higher than supply. The domestic consumption is much higher than production so that it could not meet with the domestic demand. In order to meet this higher demand in the domestic market we have to import from the other producing countries.

Coconut Production and Productivity in India:

Kerala is the largest producer of coconuts in India producing 5496 Million Nuts followed by Tamilnadu (3158.4 Million Nuts), Karnataka (1754.2 Million Nuts), and Andhra Pradesh (1092.7 Million Nuts) as they have taken 2nd, 3rd and 4th position respectively. Central Kerala town Kochi is a major trading center for coconut oil and copra.

Giving focus on productivity, Maharastra comes in 1st position (914548 Nuts/ha.), West Bengal in 2nd position (13490 Nuts/ha.) and Andhra Pradesh in 3 rd position (10660 Nuts/ha.). Kerala being a major coconut producing state its productivity is not so high (5870 Nuts/ha.).
 

Consumption Pattern of Coconut
 

Copra is produced in two grades, the edible grade and the milling grade. The edible grade copra is consumed as raw nut (which is used as offering to gods, grated to produce copra powder for use in sweets, chutneys and other dishes) and the milling grade for the extraction of coconut oil.

The extracted oil is used for cooking purpose as well as industrial purpose such as hair oils, toilet soaps, splitting into fatty acids for manufacturing chemicals used in shampoos, and in ayurvedic and pharmaceutical industries, etc.

At present India produces about 10 lakh tonnes of copra annually of which about 2 lakh tonnes is of confectionery or edible grade and 8 lakh tonnes milling grade. The edible copra produced in Malabar region is specially preferred in India and abroad because of its attractive colour and sweetness.

In recent years, however, the use of coconut oil by the industry has been declining because of its high price in the country in the recent past. The toilet soap industry in India uses coconut oil only if its price is below or around Rs. 35 per kg. If it is more, there are substitutes available which are much cheaper to use than coconut oil. At present India produces about 11614 tonnes of coconut oil annually, of which about 50 per cent is absorbed by the toiletry sector (in hair oils, toilet soaps, chemicals for shampoos, etc), 35 per cent by the households for cooking purposes and 15 per cent is used by confectionery and ice-cream industry. At one time, the toilet soap industry used to consume 23 per cent of the coconut oil produced in the country but now its consumption has dropped to just 5 per cent . The use of coconut oil as hair oil in India, however, is rising.

Import Export of Coconut:

Coconut is exported in several forms. The young fruits (nuts) are exported for consumption as a food. The old nuts are exported both as food and planting material. Germinated nuts and young seedlings are exported for planting as well as ornamental purposes. Coconut products exported range from desiccated coconut, coconut cream, milk (santan) and oil. The export conditions vary depending on their form. The following is a summary of the various conditions.

International prices of Copra and Coconut Oil are far below the domestic prices. The difference in coconut oil price in between domestic and international makes a negative impact on domestic market. In the international market, crude coconut oil is available at around Rs 21,000 a tonne and when it was refined it could be sold at Rs 25,000 per tonne. The ruling domestic price ranged between Rs 45,000 and Rs 48,000 a tonne in general.

Since the price of coconut oil in the international market is very much lower than the domestic price, the quality and attractiveness of consumer packs are important factors to compete in the world market. While the demand for coconut oil for cooking purpose is elastic, its demand as hair oil is inelastic.

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