Coconut remains a prime and valuable crop to Sri Lankans and its uses are many and varied. They include coconut milk for cooking purposes, timber for house-building and furniture, the leaves for thatching roofs, fibre for making ropes and firewood.
While the world identifies coconut as a superfood, we Sri Lankans consume it as a food staple and aptly we call the coconut tree as the Kapruka. It is closely interwoven with our traditions and culture. The term Kapruka is full of meaning as it sustains human society, providing many of its daily needs.
The available information confirms that Sri Lankan polity consumes 150 million of coconuts per annum or 70 per cent of the total production and coconut related industry requires 100 million on a yearly basis. Around 30 per cent of the total production is used for export processing. Coconut is the second largest agricultural export product, next to tea.
The Plantation Industries Ministry claims that in terms of export earnings from coconut products, it amounts to Rs. 91 billion and about three million people depend either directly or indirectly on the coconut related industry for their sustenance and livelihood.
The demand for coconut and its value-added products keeps increasing exponentially with the growing acceptance of coconut water, virgin coconut oil and coconut butter as health supplements. The future of the Sri Lankan coconut industry is heavily dependent on its global market share.
The Coconut Development Authority (CDA) a vital organisation tasked with promoting the coconut products globally. The Authority assists the growers to become the producers of value-added kernel products by facilitating the export marketing.
The CDA still needs to broad-base its promotional activities to attract the emerging markets, cater to the ever-changing needs of the existing consumers and attract the new consumers entering the market looking for new and exciting products.
National policy on coconut cultivation
Other coconut-growing countries claim to collect more than 12,000 nuts per hectare whereas the figure is just 7,000 in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s productivity is lower in comparison to the other coconut growing countries. Yet the country has the much-required potential to compete with those coconut growing countries, by adopting standard management practices.
Efforts are being made to change this situation with the coconut growers scattered across the country. They formed the Coconut Growers’ Association of Sri Lanka in 1994.
The Association, with its 1440-membership, protects and promotes the common interest of the growers. The Association also interacts with related agencies of government and contributes to the drafting of a national policy on coconut cultivation, development and export of kernel products.
The Association, while endeavouring to represent and serve the needs of the growers continuously and relentlessly, has formed its branches in all major coconut-growing districts and areas with a high density of coconut plantations: Gampaha, Kuliyapitiya, Kurunegala, Chilaw/Puttalam, Northern, Eastern and expanded into the Southern regions.
The branches in the respective localities would help members to exchange ideas, share their experience and problems, learn from each other, and forge a common agenda with the Board to bring about favourable policy changes.
The institutes linked to the Ministry such as the Coconut Research Institute, the Coconut Cultivation Board and the Coconut Development Authority dedicated to looking after the interest of growers. The institutes have offered low-interest credit for infrastructure, investment and development such as electricity, irrigation, machinery and equipment.
The Association has sought a favourable government policy to further spur the entrepreneurial activities such as value addition and transition to export agriculture. Active involvement of the Coconut Development Authority in establishing connections to the niche markets is vital.
Statistics show that Sri Lanka produces 2,800 – 3,000 million nuts annually. But this number came down to 2,400 million in 2017, as a result of the prolonged drought.
This situation demanded the consumers to pay the exorbitant price of Rs. 120 per nut, more than ever before. The present price is floating and now it is between Rs. 60 to 80 per nut in the open market. The Association is all out to bring down the consumer price of coconut and to ensure reasonable farm-gate price for the coconut growers.
Quality coconut product exporter
This unprecedented scenario compelled the government to permit the import of frozen coconut kernel to mitigate the rising price for the edible coconut. In respect of the import of frozen coconut kernel, the Association had shown great concern, over the possibility of getting tarnished the good name of Sri Lanka, as a country of quality coconut product exporter, if the country were to keep importing substitute and re-export as Sri Lanka produce.
It is very pertinent to recall here how the coconut lands in the country suffered heavily with the setting up of the Land Reform Commission, in 1972, under the Sirimavo Bandaranaike-led United Front Government. The fragmentation of vast acreage of land is a threat to the coconut triangle which is within the Western and North Western Provinces, resulting in economic repercussion and the ever-rising demand of land for urbanization, expansion of human settlement along with the fast-growing industrial and recreational facilities.
It is also on record that over 300,000 coconut trees were felled and destroyed with a view to controlling the Weligama Wilts. The coconut grown lands have been consumed for the - aforementioned purposes, has added a further loss to the national economy.
The coconut lands in both North and East also suffered heavily owing to three-decade long internal strife. It is heartening to note those areas are now in the process of being re-cultivated and rehabilitated. Taking this phenomenon into consideration, the Coconut Growers’ Association has requested the government to release at least 50,000 acres of land suitable for coconut-growing and to encourage the value addition process to meet the world demand.
The Association membership has also requested the Plantation Ministry to coordinate budget proposals beneficial to the coconut growers. They seek assistance to construct deep wells, submersible pumps with irrigation system in addition to a subsidy scheme as a part of the investment and the balance are provided to the membership as a concessionary loan through the Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB) and commercial banks.
The Association has also forwarded a request to increase the fertilizer subsidy which will enhance the productivity. The other proposals have been forwarded to the Coconut Research Institute (CRI) and the Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB) to carry out a national level programme to control, prevent spreading of pest and the diseases affecting the coconut cultivation.
Plus, the Association recommends the hybrid coconut seed garden which could be materialised on about 250 acres. This could be operated as a public and private partnership project between Sri Lanka Army and Coconut Research Institute.
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