Hello Sir
In India, coconut is cultivated mainly in the coastal tracts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Pondicherry, and Maharashtra and in the islands of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar.
The coconut palm is found to grow under varying climatic and soil conditions. It is essentially a tropical plant growing mostly between 200N, 200S latitudes. However, a rainfall of about 2000 mm per year, well distributed throughout, is ideal for proper growth and maximum production. Coconut is grown under different soil types such as loamy, laterite, coastal sandy, alluvial, clayey and reclaimed soils of the marshy low lands. The ideal soil conditions for better growth and performance of the palm are proper drainage, good water-holding capacity and presence of water table within 3 m and absence of rock or any hard substratum within 2 m of the surface.
Varieties There are only two distinct varieties of coconut, the tall and the dwarf. The tall cultivars that are extensively grown are the West Coast Tall and East Coast Tall. The dwarf variety is shorter in stature and its life span is short as compared to the tall. Tall x Dwarf (T x D), Dwarf x Tall (D x T) are the two important hybrids. There are 10 different combinations of hybrids, developed by Kerala Agricultural University and Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and released for commercial cultivation. They are high yielders under the good management conditions. Laccadive Ordinary, Andaman Ordinary, Philippines, Java, Cochin-China, Kappadam etc. is the other tall cultivars under cultivation.
The basic structure of coconut based cropping system is formed by planting coconut trees at a distance of 33 ft. in a square design. Fourty coconut seedlings can be planted in one acre under this design. In one hectare exactly hundred coconut trees can be planted.
The plant to plant distance can be reduced by 2 or 3 feet depending on hybrid varieties which has canopies of lesser diameter.
The position of each coconut tree is marked using pegs.
The first line of coconut trees will be planted leaving half of the plant to plant distance (16.5') from the boundary.
Marking of the location should be done carefully so that the limited land is best utilized. Balance of area if any should be positioned on one side of the land and should be used for growing any suitable crops.
Pits of 4' x 4' x 4' size are dug for each coconut tree. While digging, the top soil is placed on the lower side of the pit, the middle soil on the left side and right side. After digging the pit should be left in the sun and rain to be weathered.
It is highly recommended that the pits are dug at the end of rainy season or during winter season and leave them for weathering till the beginning of next rainy season.
But one month before planting the pits should be filled with a mixture of top soil and well rotten cow dung (1: 1 ratio) up to half the height.
Good quality seedlings of selected variety should be planted in the pit a little above the half level. Then using the bottom and middle soil a bund is made on the upper side of the pit to prevent runoff water getting accumulated in the pit. Where there is problem of water logging or high water table the seedlings are planted on raised mud heaps or at the level of the ground.
Gap filling should be done in the second year in case any of the seedlings die. Make sure that the coconut trees are established and growing properly.
Selection of Seed Gardens
Gardens should have palms with a high proportion of heavy bearers but it should be kept in mind that this must not be from very favourable conditions Garden should be free from the pest and disease incidence.
Trees growing closer to households, cattle shed, compost pits should be avoided.
Certain centres are well known for good quality seed nuts and seedlings, e.g., in Kerala, Kuttiadi in Kozhikode and Chavakkad in Thrissur districts.
Mother Palm Selection
For production of quality planting materials it is essential to have good quality mother palms of the desired varieties. In the absence of commercially viable vegetative propagation techniques only seed propagation is possible. Therefore mother palm selection is a key factor in planting material production of coconut.
The important features of superior mother palms are:
Regular bearer : A good regular bearing mother palm produces on an average one leaf and an inflorescence in its axil every month. So, there will be twelve bunches of varying stages of maturity at any one time with strong bunch stalks. Avoid trees producing habitually barren nuts.
Straight stout trunk with even growth and closely spaced leaf scars.
Spherical or semi spherical crown,
High rate of leaf (more than 30 fully opened leaves) and spathe production (12 inflorescences)
Short and stout petiole and wide leaf base firmly attached to the stem,
Short and stout inflorescence stalk with bunches, preferably resting on the leaf petioles of the lower whorl and more number of female flowers (25 or more)
The age of the palm chosen be middle age i.e., from 25 to 40 years. Even trees with 15 years age can be selected, if it is high yielding and has stabilized yield.(e.g., Chowghat dwarf). Avoid palms that are above 60 years.
High yielding mother palms giving not less than 100 nuts/palm/annum under irrigated condition (70-80 nuts/annum under rain fed conditions) should be chosen for collecting seednuts
Husked nuts should weigh not less than 600 g.
Mean copra content of 150 g per nut or more
Free from pest and diseases.
Avoid palms which have the following characteristics
Palms have long, thin and pendulous inflorescence stalks
Palms produce long, narrow, small sized or barren nuts
Palms showing alternate bearing tendency also should be avoided.
Palms show shedding of immature nuts in large numbers and
Palms are grown under favorable environmental conditions. E.g. Trees near manure pits.
Any crop that requires planting distance up to 15 - 20 ft. can be planted between two adjacent coconut trees. They could be perennial crops of high medium and low canopy height. They could be for fruits, fodder, fibre and manure depending on the needs.
