COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL 26(1) 2019

VOLUME 26, No.1, 2019 / ISSN 0854-5006

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL

Editor-In-Chief: Uron N. Salum i
Managing Editor: Muhartoyo
Associate Editor: Mridula K.
Advertising Manager: Alit Pirmansah
Circulation Manager: Rully Safriani K.
Cocoinfo International is a popular journal on the
coconut inustry published twice a year by the Interna-
tional Coconut Community (ICC)
8th Fl. BAPPEBTI Building,
Jl. Kramat Raya No. 172 Kenari, Senen

Jakarta 10430, Indonesia.
P.O. Box 1343, Jakarta 10013.
Phone 62 21 3100 556 to 557, Fax 62 21 310 1007
E-mail address: [email protected]
Website: https://www.coconutcommunity.org
Queries and information regarding subscription and adver-
tisement insertion rates should be directed to the above

address.
Foreign subscription rates including airmail postage for one

year (two issues) is US$35.00 (ICC Member)
US$ 40.00 (Non-ICC Member Countries)

Articles may be reproduced or excerpted with prior permis-
sion from the ICC.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily
reflect those of the ICC.

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

VOLUME 26, No.1, 2019 / ISSN 0854-5006

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL

From the Editor –in-Chief ………………………… 1

Science-Based Evidence for Oil Pulling…….……. 2
Dr. Bruce Fife

Sri-Lankan Coconut Industry: Performance and 6
Challenges for the Future ……………..……………….
Jayantha Jayewardene

Farmer Producer Organizations in Plantations 11
Sector: Issues and Challenge …………………….
Lijo Thomas1, Thamban,C2. and Jayasekhar. S2

The on Prime Coconut Cloning 22
Commercialisation Project and a Potential
Australian Coconut Industry ...................................
Julianne Biddle, Quang Thien Nguyen,
Steve W. Adkins, Mike Foale

Editor-In-Chief: Uron N. Salum ‘Malai’- from the Nature Back to Nature 31
Managing Editor: Muhartoyo An Alternative to Leather from Mature 34
Associate Editor: Mridula K. Coconut Water ……………………………………...
Sona John 42
Advertising Manager: Alit Pirmansah Bilogical Control of Coconut Mite: A Success Sto-
Circulation Manager: Rully Safriani K. ry of Sri Laka ………………………………….
Cocoinfo International is a popular journal on the N.S. Aratchige
coconut inustry published twice a year by the Interna- Face to face Interview with Prof. Nelson
Pomalinggo, Chaiman of Coalition of Coconut
tional Coconut Community (ICC) Producing Regencies and Regent of Gorontalo
8th Fl. BAPPEBTI Building, Regency
……………………………………………...
Jl. Kramat Raya No. 172 Kenari, Senen Muhartoyo and Ardi Simpala
Jakarta 10430, Indonesia. Experts’ Findings on the Health Benefits of
Coconut Water …………………………………...
P.O. Box 1343, Jakarta 10013.
Phone 62 21 3100 556 to 557, Fax 62 21 310 1007 Experts’ Findings on the Health Benefits of 46
Coconut Oil ………………………………………..
E-mail address: [email protected]
Website: https://www.coconutcommunity.org Market Outlook—Coconut Oil: First 48
Queries and information regarding subscription and adver- Quarter of 2019
tisement insertion rates should be directed to the above Alit Pirmansah …………………………………………...

address. Past Cocoevent ………………………….……….....
Foreign subscription rates including airmail postage for one 51

year (two issues) is US$35.00 (ICC Member) News Round-up ………………………….……….....
US$ 40.00 (Non-ICC Member Countries) Statistics …………………………………….……..... 54

Articles may be reproduced or excerpted with prior permis- 58
sion from the ICC. 65

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily
reflect those of the ICC.

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 i

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

From the Editor-in-Chief

VIABILITY OF COCONUT FARM, FARMER AND
INDUSTRY ENSURES LONG TERM SUSTAINABILITY

Coconut is one of few cash crops that is farmed and ‘International Certificate Course on Coconut Plantation
produced 95% by small farmers with an average land Management’ was conducted for APCC by the Coconut
area of 0.5 hectare in size or at times 20 to 40 trees per Research Institute of Sri Lanka at which the first 14
farmer. As to the maximizing of the potential of coconut trainees from Jamaica, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea,
farms is highly dependent on the skill levels, knowledge Samoa, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu re-
and sheer hard work of each farmer. The sustainability ceived 52 days on-site and off-station training in all as-
of farmers and farms is further dependent on how the pects of coconut development. Production must be in-
coconut value chain works in different countries and creased to meet the growth in demand of coconuts.
regions. The role of the industry and its overall success
is critical to the basic survival of coconut farmers who As the consuming public becomes increasingly aware
are presently considered poorest amongst the category of the truth about health and nutritional benefits of coco-
of farmers. nut the respective markets would continue to grow. Re-
ported in this issue is about medical treatment material
Value addition has become focal point of positive made from Nata de Coco being used to dress wounds
change in the economic viability of all active participants as a Microbial Cellulose. Contrary to much publicized
in the coconut value chain as it can increase the value negative campaign it must be known by coconut stake-
of a fresh young or mature coconut three times depend- holders that studies show Coconut Oil does lower the
ing on the end-product pursued instead of Copra. Pric- risk of heart disease and is helpful to counter obesity.
es offered by middle man buying for or on behalf of Studies are being conducted on application of Virgin
major downstream processing facilities in South East Coconut Oil with HIV positive people and sufferers of
Asia were at a minimum of 0.25 US cents up towards Diabetes Type 2. Initial results are encouraging.
the last quarter of 2017 as was the case of Indonesia
who saw the dramatic drop recently to a low 0.05 US High value products such as Desiccated Coconut, Vir-
cents. gin Coconut Oil, Coconut Water, Coconut Sugar and
Coconut Flour have demonstrated very good growth in
The strong link between the industry and small holder export volumes over the last 5 years with positive out-
farmers is of high importance. Continuous flow of infor- look. It is becoming important to position the farmers
mation both ways is crucial to establish understanding well to benefit from opportunities increasingly offered by
initially about pricing for raw material in terms of fresh the industry in the developing markets.
coconuts. Within this relationship many important up-
stream issues critical to coconut production are ad- It is therefore beneficial for farmers to easy access to
dressed beginning with underplanting or replanting of adequate planting material that are preferably early
new palms to replace aging coconut population, whose bearing, high yielding and highly resistant to the com-
productivity is on the decline, integrated pest manage- mon pests and diseases of coconut. The challenge still
ment controls and improving agriculture practices. remains for the industry to be able to easily move
ahead with large scale planting programs. Coconut
A key area of capacity building is the training of Coco- farmers are encouraged to continue aggressive efforts
nut Development Officers and Coconut Plantation Man- to replenish coconut plantings on their individual farms.
agers to assist in addressing upstream issues faced by
coconut farmers and farm viability. A first time URON N. SALUM
Executive Director and Editor in Chief

ii

SCIENCE-BASED EVIDENCE FOR OIL PULLING

Dr. Bruce Fife1

The American Dental Antiseptic mouthwashes loaded into the mouth and swishing it
Association (ADA), with chemicals and artificial around like a mouthwash and
which represents itself ingredients are also recommend- then spitting it out.
as an authoritative voice ed as part of our daily oral hy- The theory behind it is that the
of modern dental science and giene routine. The ingredients oil attracts bacteria, viruses, and
practice, has establish the stand- include such things as alcohol,
ard for dental care recommend- other debris from around the
ed by dentists. While some of cetylpyridinum chloride, domi- teeth and gums. When the oil is
the ADA’s recommendations phen bromide, methyl salicylate, spit out, it pulls out all this de-
are sensible, others are not. In and a range of chemical preserv- bris with it, leaving the mouth
fact, following all of the advice atives, sweeteners, flavorings, cleaner and healthier. The re-
of the ADA might kill you! and artificial colors, none of sults are whiter teeth, fresher
The ADA has long advocated which can be considered healthy breath, healthier gums, and a
the use of mercury amalgam or even harmless. The warnings reduced risk of infection. In fact,
fillings, claiming they are harm- on the labels say do not swal- many people have claimed that
less and even essential for good low, keep out of the hands of oil pulling removed infections
dental health. Mercury is the children, and that they are not be allowing them to no longer need
most toxic nonradioactive sub- used by anyone under the age of scheduled dental surgery and
stance known to science. It is a 12. If a 12-year-old isn’t sup- other invasive, and expensive,
potent neurotoxin that destroys posed to use it then it might not dental procedures. Others have
the brain and nervous system. be so good for older people ei- found that their oral health has
Despite conclusive evidence ther. Right? improved so much that they no
against the use of mercury amal- Many other recommendations longer see the need for dental
gam fillings, the ADA refuses to by the ADA are equally as
change its longstanding recom- harmful and following their ad-
mendation for the use of this vice can make your mouth more
toxic material in our mouths. susceptible to infection and seri-
[1 ] ously affect your overall health.
Fluoride, another highly toxic In recent years the practice of
substance, is recommend as an oil pulling has become a popular
ingredient in all dental products holistic method of oral cleans-
and even as an additive to drink- ing. Oil pulling is simply putting
ing water. Again the science a spoonful of oil (usually a veg-
shows, contrary to ADA claims, etable oil such as coconut oil)
that fluoride does not prevent
cavities and can lead to many
serious health problems.[2]
You may have noticed the warn-
ings on fluoride toothpaste that
say if as much as a pea size
amount of toothpaste is swal-
lowed to contact the poison con-
trol center immediately. That
doesn’t sound exactly harmless.
Dental procedures such as root
canals cause far more harm than
good and set up an environment
in the mouth that incubates
harmful bacteria that can spread
to other parts of the mouth and
throughout the body causing a
wide variety of health issues.
Again, the ADA claims root
canals are harmless.[3] Forty
million root canal procedures
are performed in the US each
year on patients who are told
they are harmless or at least not
told about their dangers.

1 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

cleanings every 6 months. Oil pulling removing bacteria.
Some dentists aren’t too happy
with the lost revenue as a result. the form of published studies Researchers at VHNSN College
The ADA has come out publi- and imply that as long there is in Virudhunagar, India studied
cally and stated that they do not no proof that it works, we the effect of oil pulling on the
recommend oil pulling. Putting should not be doing it. Simply oral populations of Streptococ-
a vegetable oil in your mouth because they claim there isn’t cus mutans and Lactobacillus
could be dangerous they imply, any proof doesn’t mean it is so. acidophilus—the two most
yet they stanchly defend the use They are hoping their word common bacteria associated
of toxic substance such as mer- alone is enough to discourage with dental decay. Test subjects
cury, fluoride, and chemical any further inquiries on the top- with active dental cavities were
mouthwashes. It makes you ic to keep the public in the dark. selected and oral bacterial pop-
wonder whose welfare they are The fact of the matter is, there ulations measured before and
looking out for, yours or the is lots of proof. There are over after oil pulling. After 40 days
profits of their members and 50 medical and dental journal of oil pulling once daily, the
themselves? articles and studies published in total bacteria count was reduced
The ADA recommends that you just the last few years describ- up to 33 percent in the partici-
maintain their recommended ing the effects oil pulling. pants.[4]
brushing, flossing, and routine If oil pulling were a drug, there This study demonstrated that oil
6-month professional cleaning is enough published research pulling does reduce the bacteria
model for a healthy smile. Inter- for the FDA to approve it for most responsible for dental de-
estingly, we have been follow- sale in the US. Drugs can be cay. A number of other studies
ing this model for decades and approved with just two positive lasting from 1 to 6 weeks have
it hasn’t slowed the rates of studies to demonstrate their confirmed the bacteria reducing
dental disease. More than 90 safety and usefulness. Oil pull- effect of oil pulling.[5-6] One
percent of the population has ing has far more than that. see of the beneficial effects attribut-
some level of dental decay or link ed to oil pulling is the reduction
gum disease. Simply having Oil pulling advocates claim that or elimination of halitosis. Hali-
straight, white teeth does not it can effectively reduce oral tosis, or chronic bad breath, is
equate to having a healthy microbial populations and thus something that breath mints,
mouth free from decay and in- improve oral health. Conse- mouthwash, and brushing can’t
fection. According to the Cen- quently, most of the studies on solve. Unlike food odors or
ters for Disease Control and oil pulling have examined this morning breath, halitosis re-
Prevention (CDC), nine out of issue. It is believed that micro- mains for an extended period of
every 10 people have tooth de- organisms which are encased in time and is often a sign of a
cay. One in 20 middle-aged a fatty membrane are attracted more serious problem.
adults and one in three older to and absorbed into the oil dur-
adults over the age of 65 have ing the swishing action. When
lost all of their teeth to oral in- the oil is expelled from the
fections. mouth, the absorbed microor-
Despite following the ADA’s ganisms are removed with it.
dental hygiene recommenda- Much of the research on oil
tions, by the age of 65 you are pulling has come out of the
likely to have lost most or all of medical and dental schools of
your teeth from infection. India where oil pulling is a well
Those are some pretty grim sta- -known practice with roots in
tistics. Teeth are meant to last a traditional Ayurvedic medicine.
lifetime, not just a few decades.
Obviously, the ADA model
isn’t working. It does, however,
provide an opportunity for pa-
tients to become lifelong cus-
tomers with a continual need
for regular dental care.
If oil pulling can improve oral
health and even prevent inva-
sive dental work, why doesn’t
the ADA recommend it? They
claim that there isn’t enough
research to prove that it is safe
or effective. In fact, that is the
only excuse all the skeptics
give. They all demand proof in

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 2

Most cases of halitosis are advantage over chlorhexidine in ly dental hygiene routine.
caused by the overgrowth of that it does not cause tooth Plaque and gingival indices
odor-producing bacteria associ- staining, tongue irritation, swol- were measured at baseline and
ated with tooth decay and gum len glands, dry mouth, or mouth on days 1, 7, 15, and 30.
disease and are nearly impossi- sores—all typical side effects of The gingival index is used in
ble to clear out by routine the medicated mouthwash. dental care to evaluate the extent
brushing, flossing, or antiseptic Chlorhexidine also produces a of gum disease. This index can
mouthwashes. lingering aftertaste and in some help dentists create a care plan
A study by researchers at the people can cause serious allergic for patients and can be used to
Meenakshi Ammal Dental Col- reactions and breathing prob- track the progress of dental
lege, Chennai, India compared lems. In addition, vegetable oil treatment over time. The prima-
the anti-halitosis effect of oil is far less expensive and does ry cause of gingivitis (gum or
pulling with medicated mouth- not require a doctor’s prescrip- gingival inflammation) is
wash. The active ingredient in tion. All things considered, oil plaque. Plaque is the most com-
the mouthwash used was chlor- pulling has the clear advantage mon factor for tooth decay and
hexidine. This is a prescription At least six additional studies gum disease. Bacteria attach to
grade mouthwash designed spe- have been published comparing the teeth forming the plaque.
cifically to kill bacteria associ- oil pulling with chlorhexidine- These bacteria metabolize sug-
ated with gingivitis and perio- based mouthwash.[8-13] Every ars and starches and produce
dontitis—major contributors to one of them showed that there acids that damage the teeth and
halitosis. Chlorhexidine is con- was no statistically significant promote the growth of bacteria
sidered the most potent an- difference in the efficiency of that can harm the gums.
tiplaque and antigingivitis agent oil pulling compared to chlor- The results of the study showed
presently in use. Rinsing with a hexidine mouthwash in reducing that plaque accumulation over
chlorhexidine-based mouth- halitosis and odor-causing bac- the tooth surface was drastically
wash provides a significant re- teria and yeasts. Each of the oils reduced after the first week and
duction in odor-producing bac- used for pulling in the studies, that gingival infection signifi-
teria and has been shown to which included coconut oil, ses- cantly subsided within 15 days.
reduce halitosis by up to 90 per- ame oil, and rice bran oil, were Both indices continued to im-
cent. It is considered the gold effective and showed measura- prove throughout the 30 day test
standard on which other mouth ble decline in Streptococcus mu- period. See the graphs below.
rinses are compared. tans, Lactobacillus acidophilus, [14]
This study involved 20 college Porphyromonas gingivalis, Bac-
age subjects free of periodontal teroides forsythus, Treponema
disease. Half of the subjects denticola, and Candida albi-
swished with vegetable oil (the cans, all of which can contribute
oil pulling group) the other half to halitosis, dental cavities, and
used chlorhexidine-based gum disease.
mouthwash (the control group). Reducing oral microbial popula-
Breath analysis was done first tions can have a pronounced
thing in the morning on an effect in reducing the severity of
empty stomach and before per- gingivitis and periodontitis. In
forming any type of oral hy- fact, this is the reason for the
giene. Normal tooth brushing use of chlorhexidine-based
and dental hygiene was contin- mouthwashes. One of the major
ued throughout the study peri- benefits attributed to oil pulling
od. Participants were instructed is the reduction of gum disease,
not to consume spicy or pun- and in some cases even to the
gent foods or alcohol the night extent of eliminating the need
before that might affect the re- for dental intervention.
sults. The subjects were moni- Researchers at Kannur Dental
tored for 14 days. College, Kannur, India investi-
In this study the researchers gated the effect of oil pulling on
demonstrated that oil pulling plaque formation and to evalu-
was equally as effective as ate the effect on induced
chlorhexidine-based mouth- gingivitis. Sixty teenage
wash against halitosis and the subjects with plaque
bacteria that are associated with related gingivitis
it.[7] While the overall effects participated in
of the two treatments were the study.
comparable, oil pulling has the The subjects
were in-
3 structed to oil
pull with coco-
nut oil each morn-
ing along with their normal dai-

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

study “proved” that oil pulling
has dental benefits.[15] Studies
have shown that commercial
mouthwashes reduce plaque by
20 to 26 percent and gingivitis
by about 13 percent.[16-17]
Tooth brushing reduces plaque
by 11-27 percent and gingivitis
by 8 to 23 percent.[18-19]

According to the above study,
oil pulling beats them both. The
results show that oil pulling re-
duced plaque by 18 to 30 per-
cent and gingivitis by an amaz-
ing 52 to 60 percent. The reduc-
tion in plaque using oil pulling
is only slightly better than anti-
septic mouthwash and brushing,
but the reduction in gingivitis is
two to seven times greater. Oil
pulling significantly out-
performs brushing and mouth-
wash as a means of oral cleans-
ing and reducing established
gum disease. The plaque - and
gingivitis-reducing effect of oil
pulling has been reported by a
number of other studies con-
firming these results.[20-22]

Adapted from Peedikayil, FC, et al. Effects of Coconut Oil on Oral Health. There are enough studies to es-
tablish the fact that oil pulling
One of the first studies on oil gingivitis were assessed periodi- can and does reduce oral micro-
pulling to appear in the scien- cally during the study. The sub- bial populations and reduces
tific literature was published in jects were instructed to take 2 to established gum disease. Conse-
the Journal of Oral Health and 3 teaspoons of refined sunflower quently, it stands to reason that
Community Dentistry in 2007. oil and swish the oil in their oil pulling can do as reported—
The objective of the researchers mouths for 8 to 10 minutes be- whiten teeth, eliminate bad
was to assess the effect of oil fore spitting it out. breath, stop bleeding gums, pull
pulling on plaque and gingivitis At the end of the 45 days no out infection, and generally im-
and to monitor its safety on the adverse reactions to the teeth or prove the overall health of the
teeth and gums. Ten university soft tissues in the mouth were mouth. A case study described
students were recruited to par- found, indicating that the proce- in the IOSR Journal of Dental
ticipate in the study. This was a dure caused no physical harm. and Medical Sciences provides
blind study so that the subjects Most people would have as- scientific support.[23]
were not told the purpose of the sumed this, but his study gave A 34-year-old male complained
investigation in order to avoid confirmation. Plaque formation of halitosis, bleeding gums, and
any possible bias. All the sub- was significantly reduced, with a loose back tooth. The exami-
jects chosen had mild to moder- most of the reduction coming nation revealed poor dental hy-
ate gingivitis and plaque accu- during the latter half of the giene with a high plaque index,
mulation, were free form sys- study, indicating that the longer deep periodontal pockets, and
temic disease, and were not us- the treatment is performed the tartar accumulating below the
ing any medications. They were better the results. Gingivitis was gumline. A diagnosis was given
instructed to continue with their also significantly reduced in all of chronic generalized gingivitis
normal oral hygiene routine, subjects, decreasing by more with localized periodontitis af-
along with oil pulling. Oil pull- than 50 percent. The researchers fecting 9 teeth.
ing was performed once each rated the changes as “highly”
morning for a period of 45 days. significant and stated that this
Plaque levels and the severity of

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 4

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1. http://www.toxicteeth.org/ 1996;23:641-648.
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an Soc Pedod Dent 2008;26:12-17. 24. Desvarieux, M, et al. Periodontal microbiota and
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COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 5

SRI-LANKAN COCONUT INDUSTRY: PERFORMENCE AND
CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

Jayantha Jayewardene1

S ri Lanka is one of the contribution of the smallholding King Coconut Vendor on a Road Side
leading countries in co- sector to the total annual coco-
conut production. It has nut production is 70%, this sec- from coconut was US dollar
a significant share in the tor is not yet organised well and 598.19 million which is a 3%
world coconut market mainly is thus managed far below opti- increase compared to that of
through the supply of Desic- mal levels. 2016. Since the coconut pro-
cated Coconut (DC). The Sri Current production in the coun- cessing industry in the country,
Lankan coconut industry is gov- try varies from 2,500 to 3,000 especially, the kernel based in-
erned by the Coconut Develop- million nuts.The coconut sector dustries, have done well during
ment Act No 46 of 1971 and is strategic development plan fo- recent years, much of this
monitored by the Coconut Re- cuses mainly on increasing growth can be attributed mainly
search Board, the Coconut Cul- yields to achieve a target of to the tremendous growth in
tivation Board (CCB) and the 3,600 million nuts/year. This existing industries like Virgin
Coconut Development Authori- quantity is necessary to satisfy Coconut Oil (VCO), fresh king
ty (CDA). the demand for both domestic coconut, coconut cream and co-
In addition, the coconut industry consumption and the processing conut milk. The annual coconut
is protected by the Plant Protec- industry. The strategic plan to yield for 2017 was 2,450 million
tion Ordinance (1981), Plant increase yields includes nuts which shows a 17.5% yield
Protection Act No 35 (1999) measures such as, climate reduction compared to 2016.
and the Coconut Land Fragmen- change mitigation, soil fertility This reduction is primarily due
tation Control Act No. 20 enhancement, reducing land to the prolonged drought which
(2005). fragmentation, replanting senile prevailed in the major coconut
The major portion of coconut plantations, managing pest and growing areas since the begin-
holdings in Sri Lanka (nearly diseases and minimising wast- ning of 2016 going to mid 2017.
75%) belong to smallholders age in the household use of co- However, the estimated value of
while the rest belong to the es- conut. 2,450 million nuts shows a 4%
tate sector where both private Current situation of the coco- increase compared to the
and government companies hold nut industry in Sri Lanka amount forecast by the CRI, due
ownership. Even though the In 2017, the export earnings to favourable weather condi-
tions which prevailed towards

Some Coconut Products Produced by Sri Lanka 6
COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

the end of 2017. Due to the
shortage of nuts, a negative
growth was recorded in the DC
industry. Further, the export of
30 million fresh nut export was
suspended.

The CRI is currently try-
ing to encourage growers,
including the plantation

sector, to improve their
management trough a se-
ries of work shops, mass

media and training

Besides the reduction in yields, CRI Booth at the Coconut Exhibition in Colombo
the drought has impacted on
palms resulting in decline in bilities of importing coconut on dustry in Sri Lanka requires
vigour and even the death of a temporary basis to bridge the around 3,600 million nuts for
palms. Declined palms would gap between demand and sup- smooth operation. The current
take a longer period to recover, ply. By considering the risk fac- level of nut production is only
while some may never recover. tors including pests/diseases and between 2,500 and 2,800 mil-
Therefore, the urgent need is to possible disadvantages on the lion nuts. Therefore, it is neces-
formulate a program to rehabili- farm-gate prices of coconut, sary to develop a strategic plan
tate the coconut cultivation in importation of coconut kernel in to increase the national nut pro-
the country. Almost all the co- frozen conditions was permitted. duction and on the other hand,
conut growing districts in the It was only to satisfy the re- reduce wastage in local coconut
country are currently experienc- quirement of the industry and consumption.
ing a reduced and unpredictable strictly for re-export until the I) Development of im-
rainfall in terms of amount and coconut production reached the proved coconut cultivars
distribution. This leads to an normal level. and mass propagation of seeds
increase in the air temperature, Strategies to develop the in- The development of improved
which has unfavourable effects dustry cultivars with high yield and
on coconut production. The coconut industry in Sri biotic/abiotic resistance is one
Therefore, the coconut industry Lanka has reached a transition- of the key factors necessary to
is experiencing a shortage of ary stage since a big demand has improve coconut production in
nuts resulting in increased price developed for both processed the country. The CRI has set
in the local market. This severe- products and fresh nuts in the breeding objectives to develop
ly affects consumers as well as international market. According such cultivars. The CRI has al-
processors. The shortage in nut to the existing demand for nuts ready released six improved
supply and the resulting high in the country, the coconut in- cultivars and many promising
nut price has put heavy pressure cultivars are in the pipeline. To
on the Government, forcing the facilitate mass production of
Government to explore possi- seeds/seedlings, the CRI has
established four seed gardens.
Measures are underway to es-
tablish more seed gardens to
meet the demand for the hybrid
seeds. The CRI currently pro-
duces around 1.5 million seed
nuts annually and issues them to
the Coconut Cultivation Board
(CCB) for seedling production.

A Tractor Transporting Coconuts for a DC Company 7
COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

II) Management of soil ferti- III) Management of pest and crease the extent of coconut
lity in coconut lands disease growing lands by promoting the
planting of coconut in new areas
The CRI has classified soils ac- The CRI has developed integrat- and replanting the senile planta-
cording to their suitability for ed pest and disease management tions, in an accelerated program.
planting coconut and has also (IPM) packages to manage pests It is planned to plant the bare
recommended site specific ferti- and diseases in coconut. These lands in the Southern Province
lizer recommendations technologies are being dissemi- and the non-traditional coconut
(Differential Fertilizer Recom- nated to the growers. Measures growing areas in the North and
mendation-DFR) to the growers. are underway to establish more East. A replanting program is
Based on this, it is expected that predatory mite breeding laborato- also underway to replace the se-
farmers would rationally use fer- ries to produce a larger number of nile coconut plantations in the
tilizer depending on their actual predators to be released to grow- country through government sub-
requirements. At present the man- ers. There is a high demand for sidy programs. The Agriculture
agement of coconut lands has predatory mite. At the same time, Census in 2013/2014 reported
been very poor, particularly, new nano-gel based pheromones that the extent under coconut
those of the smallholders. These are being developed for Red (443,538 ha), has increased by
lands are neglected and have led Weevil (RW) and Black Beetle 11.5% compared to 2002.
to erosion and severe soil degra- (BB) control which are the major
dation. threats to the coconut planting In addition, a program has been
programs. Monocrotophos, the
The CRI is currently trying to most effective insecticide for the launched to plant coconut in the
encourage growers, including the control of the Red Weevil, has urban and semi-urban home gar-
plantation sector, to improve their been banned in Sri Lanka and dens, depending on the space
management through a series of only restricted quantities can be available.

workshops, mass media and train- imported. Hence, there is re-
ing. The CRI has also taken initi- search to find alternative insecti-
atives to promote the use of or- cides.
ganic manures to develop a sus- IV) Coconut replanting pro-
tainable soil fertility. Concurrent- gram
ly, two subsidy programs are in
operation for the use of both inor- The most effective means to
ganic and organic fertilizers. achieve the targeted production
of 3,600 million nuts is to in-

Women Working at a DC Factory in Srilanka
8 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

This is with the objective of
meeting the domestic culinary
needs of the household. Under
this program, two hybrid coconut
seedlings are provided by the
Government at cost.

V) Establishment of Commu-
nity-based Organizations

‘Kapruka Purawara’ is a major
community based program im-
plemented by the Ministry of
Plantation Industries through the
Coconut Cultivation Board, to
uplift the coconut industry. This
is a national program implement-
ed in several Divisional Secre-
tary Divisions (DS) in the coun-
try. It has very ambitious objec-
tives and plans are to expand the
extents of coconut cultivation, Coconut Seedlings in Polybags Ready for Planting

promote coconut based indus- and integration of livestock. The program is to reduce the estimat-
tries, provide employment oppor- CRI has conducted extensive ed 30-40% high wastage of coco-
tunities and increase rural in- research on coconut based agro- nut kernel in households when
comes aiming at poverty reduc- forestry systems using fruits and hand squeezing the fresh coco-
tion. spices; rambuttan, mango, papa- nuts for milk and to collect all
The society will be empowered ya, pineapple, spices such as, the byproducts such as husk,
to initiate various activities such pepper, coffee, cinnamon and shell and coconut water in one
as, promotion of planting, re- cocoa, different vegetables, and place to make them easily availa-
planting, vacancy filling and es- livestock such as cattle, goats, ble for other none-kernel based
tablishing coconut nurseries us- sheep and poultry. Agroforestry coconut industries.
ing selected mother palms to systems using Gliricidia, Callian- Currently, there is no proper col-
meet their seedling requirements. dra, wild sunflower and other lection mechanism for those by-
These societies once established nitrogen fixing trees have been products which are totally wasted
will commence small/medium proved as potential systems to in the backyards of houses.Since
scale industries to manufacture improve degraded coconut soil. Sri Lanka locally consumes

various products such as, coir VII) Changing the utiliza- about 1,750- 2,000 million fresh
rope, brooms, charcoal, orna- tion pattern of coconuts nuts, it is estimated that 300 to
mentals etc. and develop a coco- 400 million nuts can be saved
nut value chain for local and ex- this way and made available to
port markets. Under this program At present, there is a huge and the industry while an enormous
financial support, subsidies and growing international market for amount of husk, shell and coco-
credit facilities will be given to both kernel and non-kernel based nut water will be available for
purchase implements and ma- coconut products which were other industries.
chinery and an insurance scheme listed previously. However, this VIII) Improve and pro-
will be introduced to the growers demand cannot be met due to the mote technology dissemina-
and small industrialists. Advisory shortage of nuts in the local mar- tion methodology
and information services will be ket. There is a significant gap be-
provided by the Ministry through Therefore, programs are under tween technology development
the CRI, CCB and the CDA. In way to promote/popularize the and technology dissemination in
the long term these will operate public to use processed coconut the country. The transfer of tech-
as self-sustaining units. milk, coconut paste and coconut nologies generated by research .
VI) Diversification of coconut milk powder at household level.
The objective of this

lands and productivity im-
provement

The productivity of coco-
nut as a monoculture is
generally low, and hence
the productivity of the
land could be increased by
the inclusion of other enter-
prises such as, intercropping

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 9

to the stakeholders is the final
component of the technology
generation process. The CRI is
responsible for technology devel-
opment while the CCB and the
CDA are responsible for the dis-
semination of technology. How-
ever, it transpired that the tech-
nology generated by the CRI is
not properly and effectively dis-
seminated to the grassroots level
through the CCB extension net-
work, which is through their Co-
conut Development Officers as-
signed to work in designated re-
gions, covering the entire coco-
nut growing area. Therefore, pro-
grams are underway to use mass
media and text messages in addi-
tion to the conventional pro-
grams to take technology to the
grower’s doorstep. It is noted Coconut Oil Produced by a Company in Sri Lanka
that only about 30% of the grow-
ers practice fertilizer application earnings. Therefore, it is neces- the conditions of a Plant Impor-
while moisture conservation sary that the country adopts quar- tation Permits issued by the Di-
measures adaptation is far below antine regulations and land use rector General, Department of
the expectations. During the pre- regulations to assure food securi- Agriculture. This Ordinance co-
vailing drought it was found that ty, employment and the earnings vers Cocos the Coconut and re-
estates and home gardens which of the people. lated plants also. Government
policy is to stimulate coconut
practised moisture conservation The Coconut Development Act, cultivation and the proper man-
methods had low yield reduction. provides for action on the distri- agement of the industry through

Policies on coconut sector bution of coconut land and land maintaining appropriate breake-
use policy, coconut land manage- ven farm-gate prices for the
ment and subsidy policy, coconut growers and affordable market
Coconut cultivation in Sri Lanka plant quarantine policy and coco- price for the manufactures. At
are owned mainly by the private nut pricing policy and market present the main contributing
sector (around 95%), but they mechanism which are the poli- factor for farm-gate nut price is
operate under the regulations of cies in operation in the coconut the prices of kernel-based prod-
the Government. This is because sector of the country. ucts such as coconut oil, desic-
coconut is considered an essen- According to the Plant Protection cated coconut and the substitute
tial and a major food ingredient Ordinance No. 165/2, November oil prices.
in Sri Lankan diets. It is also a 1981, no plant shall be imported Research evidence has proved
major plantation crop that con- into Sri Lanka, except under the that the price of substitute oils
tributes to foreign exchange authority and in accordance with

has a direct influence on the pric-
es of the nuts and other coconut
kernel-based products. Hence,
the Government has implement-
ed a tariff policy on substitute oil
to control competition with coco-
nut oil prices since the price of
coconut oil will decide the prices
of nuts and the other products of
coconut.

Dwarf X Tall Coconut Hybrid in Sri Lanka 1Jayantha Jayewardene is for-
COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 mer Chairman of Coconut Re-
search Board.

10

FARMER PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS IN
PLANTATIONS SECTOR: ISSUES AND CHALLENGE

Lijo Thomas1, Thamban,C2. and Jayasekhar. S2.

An Extension Officer Enlightening Coconut Farmers on the Importance of FPO

A Producer Organisation and Collion 2001, Bijman and volved in agricultural produc-
(PO) is defined as a Wollni 2008). A PO can be a tion, processing and marketing.
legal entity formed by producer company, a coopera- The terms used to designate
primary producers. The tive society or any other legal closely related institutions and
major share of producer organi- form which provides for sharing farmer collectives vary across
zations across the globe involve of benefits among the members. the countries. Farmer Based Or-
members drawn from viz. farm- Farmer Producer companies ganizations (FBO), Community
ers, milk producers, fishermen, form a sub-sect of producer Based Organizations (CBO),
artisans, etc. Producer organisa- companies, where the members Farmer Collectives (FC),
tions are voluntary membership are farmers. The legal sanctity Farmer Producer Companies
organisations of agricultural pro- of these organizations and their (FPC) and Farmer Cooperatives
ducers. They can be organised institutional acceptability vary (FC) are some of the names
and structured as associations, widely across the nations. How- which are commonly used.
societies, cooperatives, farmers ever, the evidences for benefi- Whatever be the nomenclature,
groups, unions, federations, or cial nature of these farmer pro- essentially, the FPO carries out
even firms. They exist to pro- ducer organizations are now similar functions in most of the
mote the interests of farmers and widely accepted among policy countries. The farmer producer
to work for their economic and makers and farmer members organizations, as a new form of
social benefit. Most producer alike. farmer collective combining the
organisations provide services The name Farmer Producer elements of cooperation and
that directly or indirectly support Company is an accepted nomen-
agricultural production ( Rondot clature in India denoting a pro-
ducer organization usually in-

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 11

commercial companies, is being and strengthening the liveli- tivization. These farmer collec-
promoted aggressively as a hoods of small and marginal tives were designed to address
means to address the challenges farmers. By organizing them- the constraints faced by small
faced by small holder producers. selves into farmer groups and farmers and which arose from
The functional presence of pro- FPOs, farmers have better ca- both the nature of agricultural
ducer organizations is consid- pacity for and access to tech- production and the size of their
ered to be critical for smallhold- nical knowhow on crop plan- holding. Some of the constraints
ers, to achieve competitiveness ning and management, inputs which are of specific signifi-
and ultimately improve their (including seed production), cance to small farmers involved
welfare (World Bank, 2008). In credit, post-harvest manage- in cultivation of plantation crops
fact primary producer organisa- ment, value addition, marketing include:
tions or collectives are being infrastructure and better market ¨ Structural challenges which
viewed as the only institutions linkages.
which can protect small farmers The most common form of col- acts as a barrier between
from ill-effects of glob lectivisation that farmers have farmers and the market hin-
alization or make them partici- adopted across geographies in- dering their growth and mar-
pate successfully in modern volves some form of coopera- ket viability.
competitive markets (Trebbin tive institutions and Self Help ¨ Poor market infrastructure,
and Hassler, 2012). mechanisms and Joint Liability non-availability of credit
Evolution of Farmer Producer from formal sources, market

Value Through Farmer Producer Company’s Aggregation Centers

Organizations: Rationale Groups. The Producer Compa- information asymmetries,
Aggregation and collectivisation nies or more specifically Farmer inefficiencies of factor mar-
is a tried and tested strategy Producer Companies/Farmer kets and output market etc.
which has benefitted many Producer Organizations are of
farming communities involved much recent vintage which
in cultivation of plantation crops evolved out of some shortcom-
across the world. It helps in ings in the earlier institutional
bringing economies of scale, arrangements for collectiviza-
bringing down the input costs, tion. or more specifically
better bargaining power and Farmer Producer Companies/
magnifies the voices of farmers Farmer Producer Organizations
as collective voice. It has also are of much recent vintage
played a significant role in re- which evolved out of some
ducing the risk in agriculture shortcomings in the earlier insti-
tutional arrangements for collec-
12
COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

¨ Lower bargaining power and Companies or the Farmer Pro- tion, free rider problems, politi-
holding capacity arising from ducer Organizations are one of cal interference and lack of au-
insignificant individual pro- the most promising of these in- tonomy which adversely affect-
duction volume and dis- novative farmer collectives. ed the performance of coopera-
aggregate nature of agricul- Though farmer cooperatives, tives in the country (Singh and
tural production. which have a long history of Singh, 2013). As a considered
existence, could be viewed as a policy intervention for strength-
¨ Higher input costs arising crude form of farmer producer ening and revitalizing farmer
from purchase of inputs in organization, its scope and func- collective organizations, it now
retail market, low volume tioning has significant draw- considered that a change in or-
transactions, inability to fore- backs. Some of the major draw- ganizational and operational
cast requirements and lack of backs of small farmer coopera- environment of farmer collec-
technical expertise in input tives/ farmer collectives arise tives/cooperatives more congru-
management and decision from capital constraints, corrup- ent with professionally run com-
making. panies will be highly transform-

Though the farmer collectives An Extension Officer Having a Discussion with FPO Members in a Coconut Garden
like cooperatives had many lofty
ideals, over time these ideals got ative in effect. The enhanced
diluted and a sense of lethargy freedom, unshackling of collec-
crept in. The cooperatives and tive power and stakeholder in-
other forms of traditional farmer volvement in professionally run
collectives alike failed due to business operations was ex-
problems like political interfer- pected to make farmer collec-
ence and poor management. The tives profitable business entities
efforts to provide stability and in a competitive market.
support to these traditional insti- The concept behind Farmer Pro-
tutions often resulted in exces- ducer Organizations is that
sive bureaucratic control in day farmers, who are the producers
to day functioning and resulted of agricultural products, can
in a lack of clear focus and vi- form groups and register them-
sion about their institutional selves under the Indian Compa-
raison d'être. The constant quest nies Act. The aim is to enhance
for creating an institutional farmers‟ competitiveness and
structure that can withstand increase their advantage in
these challenges and constraints emerging market opportunities.
while maintaining the ethos of
cooperation for farmers‟ collec-
tivisation saw many experi-
ments in collectivizing the farm-
ers and the Farmer Producer

Neera Processing Unit 13
COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

Types of Farmer Producer nies act (GoI, 2013). On the rec- emerged as an alternative insti-
Organizations ommendations of an expert pan- tutional arrangement, across
Broadly Farmer Producer Or- el led by Y.K. Alagh, Govern- several crop sectors including
ganizations can be categorised ment of India amended the ex- plantation crops, to promote
into four broad categories tant Indian Companies Act, small holder aggregation and
(Thompson et al. 2009): viz, 1956, in 2002-03 to provide for address production, processing
Market-oriented, Input-oriented, “producer companies”. The and marketing constraints faced
Extension-oriented and Policy amendments ensured the estab- by them.
and advocacy oriented. lishment provisions for creation Objectives of FPOs in planta-
These categories are useful for of producer companies or more tion sector
mapping the terrain, but most specifically Farmer Producer A Farmer Producer Company
producer organisation are a mix- Companies in agriculture sector can be formed by any 10 or
ture of some or all of these func- as a hybrid between cooperative more primary producers or by
tions. The identity of a producer societies and private limited two or more producer institu-
organisation will vary according companies. The policy initiative tions, or by a contribution of
to its origins and context, be through the amendment of Com- both. They can undertake activi-
shaped by economic change and panies Act, 1956 effected ties related to production, har-
policy trends, and may well shift through “The Companies vesting, procurement, grading,
during the lifetime of the organ- (Amendment) Act, 2002” saw pooling, marketing, processing,
isation. the emergence of the new gener- etc., of agricultural produce.
Evolution of FPOs in India ation Farmer producer organiza- Several well documented suc-
Framing of a legislation that tions, more identified with com- cess stories of Farmer producer
would enable incorporation of panies in functioning and scope companies in the country, over
cooperatives as companies was than with the cooperatives. the short span of its existence in
one of the key policy initiatives In any agrarian economy domi- plantation crop sector, have
under consideration during the nated by the prevalence of small proven that the entire gamut of
early part of this millenium. The holder production system there activities related to production
conversion of existing coopera- exists a strong economic ra-
tives into companies while en- tionale and sound logic for a
suring the retention of the demand for such farmer produc-
unique elements of cooperative er organizations. The first
business with a regulatory farmer producer organization
framework similar to that of registered in India under the
companies was envisaged provisions of the new amend-
through changes in the compa- ment was the Vanilla India Pro-
ducer Co. in Kerala state which
was set up in 2004. Over a short
span of time, FPOs have

Ecosystem for Sustainable FPOs
14 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

,processing, value addition, mar-
keting and trade are well within
the ambit of its capability.
Though an FPO in plantation
sector essentially is similar to
other FPOs in field crops and
horticultural crops, there are
some differences in terms of the
priorities and focus of the FPOs
working in different sectors.
Here we take a brief look at the
major priorities and functional
role of FPOs in plantation crop
sector.
¨ The major focus of FPOs in

plantation crop sector should be
to organize farmers into a col-
lective to improve their bargain-
ing strength in the market. This
is especially important in plan-
tation crops because of the na-
ture of price cycles in the output
market and the nature of price
instabilities.

¨ The plantation sector FPOs re- Coconut Climbing Training Organized by FPO
quire frequent tactical decision
making and the FPOs generally ganizations in, coconut and rub- unorganized coconut farmers of
tend to get it done through expe- ber, the two crops which together the state. A three tier structure
rienced professional managers. contribute 59.7 per cent of the consisting of Coconut Producers
gross value of output from agri- Society (CPS), Coconut Producers
¨ They take decisions based on culture in Kerala state, the leading Federation (CPF) and Coconut
market price movements, supply producer of these commodities in Producers Company (CPC) is op-
scenario etc. India. erational in the state.
FPOs in coconut sector
¨ They adopt all the good princi- The coconut crop economy is one
ples of cooperatives and the effi- of the key components of the agri-
cient business practices of com- cultural sector of the state of Ker-
panies and also seek to address ala. The scope and potential of the
the inadequacies of the coopera- new generation farmer producer
tive structure. organizations in agricultural sec-
tor was clearly demon-
¨ The Farmer Producer companies strated through the
have strong democratic govern- FPOs formed in the
ance, each producer or member sector. It was the
having equal voting rights irre- active institutional
spective of the number of shares support and inter-
held. vention of Coconut
Development
¨ The FPOs in plantation sector Board (CDB), a
usually specialize in few prod- statutory body under
ucts unlike FPOs in agriculture the Ministry of Agri-
sector. The fewer the products, culture and Farmers
the greater is the need for for- Welfare that catalyzed the for-
ward integration in plantation mation of FPOs among the largely
crop sector. Therefore we have
witnessed a trend favouring for-
ward integration by adopting
complex post harvest processing
and creation of capacity in value
added product development us-
ing the commodity in focus.

Models of Farmer Producer Or-
ganizations
The primary agricultural produc-
tion sector in India has experiment-
ed with several models of farmer
collectives. The crops with signifi-
cant contribution to plantation out-
put are also the ones where, more
number of farmer producer organi-
zations is in operation. Here we
examine the farmer producer or-

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 15

Progress of Coconut Producers' Society, Federation and Com- also registered with CDB. An
pany formation* aggregation of 8-10 CPFs would
form a Coconut Producer Compa-
S States No. of CPS No. of CPF No. of CPF regis- ny. A CPC would have around
ten lakh coconut palms under its
No registered registered tered management. . These companies,
fully owned by the farmers, are
1 Kerala 7220 464 29 registered under section 581B of
Indian Companies Act of 1956.
2 Tamil Nadu 659 69 17 The coconut FPOs in the state has
more than 7 lakh farmer members
3 Karnataka 400 125 13 with equity rights with an average
membership of 97 farmers in
4 Andhra Pradesh 1115 82 8 each CPS and an average area of
42.6 hectares under its operation-
5 West Bengal 214 0 0 al control. The broad producer
0 0 base and extent of area indicate
6 Odisha 37 0 0 the acceptability of these FPOs
and its perceived utility.
7 Assam 27 Support to FPOs through CDB
Schemes
8 Gujarat 14 0 0 Coconut Development Board un-
9 Maharashtra 1 0 0 dertakes various promotional ac-
tivities for the development of the
TOTAL 9687 740 67 coconut sector in the country. All
the schemes are implemented
* (as on 18-Dec-2018) (Source: Coconut Development Board http:// through FPO’s. The major pro-
coconutboard.nic.in/ProducerSocieties.aspx) grammes that are being imple-
mented by the Board are, Setting
up of Coconut Kiosks/points, Es-
tablishment of Coconut Nursery,
Technology Mission on Coconut,
Replanting and Rejuvenation of
Coconut Gardens, Laying out of
Demonstration Plots etc.

Setting up of sales outlets/

¨

kiosks
t Financial assistance is extend-

ed for setting up of sales out-
lets/ kiosks for value added
coconut products . The board
will provide reimbursement of
50% of cost incurred on infra-
structure and purchase of As-
sets, maximum of Rs. 1.5
Lakhs.

t Establishment of Small Coco-
nut Nursery
Establishment of Small Coco-
¨

nut Nursery scheme is imple-
mented on project basis to en-
courage FPO‘s in seedlings
production by providing finan-
The Coconut Producer Societies uct diversification (CDB, 2007). cial assistance for establishing
are small scale FPOs formed by The CPS, as knowledge based coconut nurseries. Financial
association of 40-100 coconut farmer centered collective, forms assistance is limited to 25 % of
growers in a contiguous area with the basic unit of the FPO frame-
a consolidated minimum of 4000- work in the sector. The next hier-
5000 palms. The farmer member archical tier, the Coconut Produc-
contributes equity in the organi- ers Federations is formed by
zation and undertakes activities combining about 8-10 CPS. The
aimed at productivity improve- FPO‟s formed are provided legal
ment, cost reduction, collective status through registration under
marketing, processing and prod- Charitable Societies Act and are

16 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

Support to FPOs through CDB Schemes* duction and productivity of
coconut from unit holding by
Sl Scheme Total No. of FPO Total financial proper and timely adoption of
No. ‘s assistances Rs. package of practices in a
farmer participatory mode.
1 Coconut Nursery 87 (Lakhs) This programme will facili-
2 Coconut kiosks 153 25.31 tate the adoption of appropri-
3 Copra Dryers 32 188.48 ate coconut based farming
4 Neera processing 10 157.16 systems and promote farm
350.73 level processing for value
unit 05 addition on a community ba-
5 Coconut oil 01 129.76 sis.
6 Coconut water 01 7.63 Welfare that catalyzed the for-
7 VCO 01 24.54 mation of FPOs among the
8 Desiccated coco- 25.00 largely unorganized coconut
6028 farmers of the state. A three tier
nut powder 11283.57 structure consisting of Coconut
9 Replanting and 2254 Producers Society (CPS), Coco-
15346.51 nut Producers Federation (CPF)
rejuvenation TOTAL and Coconut Producers Compa-
scheme (R&R) 27538.69 ny (CPC) is operational in the
10 Laying out of state.
demonstration plot FPOs in rubber economy
The collectivization of farmer
(LODP) producers started as early as
1986 in rubber crop in the form
*As on 31st March 2018 of voluntary associations of
small growers registered under
the project cost or Rs.2.00 t Replanting and Rejuvenation the Charitable Societies Act
of Coconut Gardens known as rubber producer socie-
¨ The main objective of the ties (RPS) promoted by the
Rubber Board. More than 75 per
lakhs . ¨ cent of the 2304 RPS are located
in Kerala and they have gained
¨ scheme is to enhance the wide acceptance among the
productivity and production small holder rubber growers in
t Technology Mission on Co- of coconut by removal of dis- the state. They operate in small
conutUnder Technology Mis- ease advanced, unproductive, compact areas having a radius of
sion of Coconut, Financial old and senile palms and reju- 2 to 3 km with 50-200 small
assistance is provided for venating the remaining palms. holder producer members.
Setting up of modern copra Though promoted by Rubber
dryer, Neera processing units, ¨ board, the RPS have operational
desiccated coconut powder, freedom in undertaking transfer
VCO, Coconut oil, coconut t Laying out of Demonstration of technology, processing, mar-
water etc. Plots keting of produce and procure-
The objective of the LODP ment of inputs. The RPS can be
¨ viewed as farmer producer or-
¨ ganization as the key operation-
al patterns were similar. The
scheme is to increase the pro- product aggregation and en-
hanced capacity of primary pro-
ducer societies necessitated cre-
ation of federal producer organi-
zations for scaling up activities
and operating capital intensive
commercial ventures. A total of
7 federated processing

Coco Logs as the Result of Coconut Rejuvenation 17
COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

companies and 11 trading com- enhances better and fair ac- t The low level of awareness
panies have also been estab- cess to markets for all stake- about the functional and op-
lished. (Rubber Board, 2016). holders. The enhanced market erational structure of FPOs
Most of these are jointly owned efficiency, while enhancing among financial institutions
Rubber Producers’ Societies government revenues, is help- makes them reluctant to pro-
with significant equity participa- ful for optimizing resource vide term loans and working
tion by the Rubber Board. allocation across crops and capital loans to producer
Support to FPOs commodities companies. Therefore crea-
Governments can facilitate the t The establishment of FPOs tion of awareness among fi-
development and strengthening can reduce the need for gov- nancial institutions needs to
of FPOs by creating a suitable ernment expenditure and in- be accorded priority. Though
legal and regulatory framework, volvement in provision of agricultural income is ex-
developing policies that provide support services, especially empted from income tax, the
a framework for active and extension services and other same benefit is not available
meaningful engagement and technical guidance services. to Farmer Producer Compa-
cooperation with FPOs, creating This can free up government nies. Equal tax treatment on
laws and policies that seek to resources for other priority par with agriculture need to
establish a balance between sev- sectors in the country while be extended to FPOs in plan-
eral stakeholders with divergent making services available to tation sector also.
interest, providing an enabling plantation crop producers at
environment to access public a lower cost and with more t Many FPOs failed in their
incentive programmes and other effectiveness than is often objectives due to lack of ad-
resources, providing opportuni- possible by government. ministrative capacity result-
ties for FPOs to participate in Governments should encourage ing in poor management of
policy development, supporting the development of FPOs as books which leads to issues
and facilitating capacity- they can improve the process of with accountability and
building of FPOs, promoting policymaking by proposing sup- transparency. These factors
equitable distribution of access portive policies and providing also stand in the way of their
to government services and rais- coherent assessments of policy accessing finance from
ing public awareness about the impacts from the perspectives of banks. Only a few FPOs in
role and relevance of the FPOs actual stakeholders. plantation sector have ex-
in its domain. As a policy initia- Issues and challenges facing plored the options for getting
tive to support farming commu- FPOs in plantation sector premium pricing through
nity, FPOs bring a clutch of There is a broad consensus that certification strategies and
benefits for governments of the concerted efforts need to be providing traceability of its
made to promote and nurture produce. This results both
developing countries. It is in the producer companies and further from a lack of capacity and
interest of a benevolent govern- legislation need to be made to lack of awareness. This situa-
ment to develop a collaborative make these companies more tion needs to be addressed.
rather than an adversarial part- attractive for investors. The rap-
nership with the FPO sector. A id growth and development of t The role of professional ex-
deliberate stance to support a FPO sector notwithstanding, this tension services is underuti-
policy environment conducive relatively new institutional lized during the initital stages
to establishment and growth of mechanism has thrown up sev- of formation of FPOs. These
FPOs in plantation crop sector eral issues. The restriction on services can be used in locat-
can bring rich dividends for trading of shares of FPOs which ing farming community,
governments. limits the exit options for inves- awareness creation, commu-
t Encouraging the establish- tors, the exclusion on non- nity mobilisation, organising
producers and the low level of community meetings through
ment and successful develop- institutional support from com- local leaders, social capital
ment of FPOs should be a mercial financial institutions are formation, facilitating forma-
priority for governments some of the persistent issues
wishing to promote sustaina- over the years. This shows that
ble development of plantation there is scope for improving the
crop sector since the stake- existing way of functioning and
holder involvement through the need for policy makers to
FPOs in nurturing the planta- guard against complacency with
tion economy will ensure in- respect to their approach to
corporation of sustainability FPOs in policy matters.
principles in all activities. Key issues and challenges in-
t The establishment of FPOs clude the following:
strengthens market forces and

18 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

What FPO Can Deliver in Integrated Manners ? amongst collectives of pri-
mary producers.
tion of core group, capacity t The establishment of FPOs t The FPOs were formed along
building of farmers etc. resulted in product diversifi- natural clusters of farming
t Many FPOs are dependent cation and scaling up of pro- groups with focus on specific
on grant-in-aids and subsi- cessing facilities. For ex- crop which created better
dies provided through vari- understanding and close in-
ous government and non- ample, the emergence of terdependence among mem-
governmental sources. This FPO‟s in coconut sector has bers.
undermines an assessment of resulted in ensuring availa- t The availability of an institu-
their actual commercial via- bility of more than 30 prod- tional facilitator (Coconut
bility and makes them fragile uct types in the consumer Development Board and
as an institution. The FPOs market strengthening the Rubber Board) for initiating
need to be trained to become product value chain and ben- formation of FPO‟s and
self sufficient and weaned efitting consumers through handholding the nascent col-
off external support within a wider product range. lectives through the develop-
short span of time. t Many self help groups, espe- mental stages helped in es-
t Most of the FPOs in opera- cially the women self help tablishment of FPOs in these
tion focus on increasing the groups have successfully crops.
output volumes alone with a adopted the FPO model for t The farmer producer organi-
hazy focus on profitability. venturing into commercial zations have promoted par-
The FPOs should focus on activity, thus bringing to- ticipation of small holder
productivity enhancement gether an organizational mix producers in the process of
per unit of land and reorient of cooperation, self help and value creation and thereby
their present focus on pro- commercial attributes. For ensuring a share of value
duction to a focus on market example, a conglomerate of addition to the small holders
oriented production. The fo- women SHGs representing t The diversity in forms and
cus on productivity and prof- more than 7000 families be- activities of farmer producer
itability can be embedded in low poverty line has organizations in these crops
crop planning, rotation and launched a FPO with an an- promoted healthy competi-
shifting patterns of crops and nual turnover of more than tion and sufficient market
development of value chains Rs 30 million. The establish- opportunities for harnessing
to reduce the transaction ment of several such FPO‟s benefits from value addition.
cost. indicate the availability of t Federated structure of the
entrepreneurial skills and FPOs in coconut and rubber
capacity for risk bearing has helped in increasing the
grass root level participation
while broadening the partici-
pation and increasing the
capacity for equity capital
accumulation.
t The farmer producers are
members of multiple socie-
ties and have shown the dis-
cipline required for success-
ful collectivization and good
business acumen to leverage
their strengths and benefit
from public institutional sup-
port.

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 19

Constraints and the way for- tion is urgently required by derstanding among farmers of the
ward giving more emphasis for role of producer organisations in
Collectivization of producers, sectors like spices, vegeta- demand-driven rural advisory
especially small and marginal bles and fruits. This could services, intensify their partner-
farmers into farmer producer be done by identifying pub- ships with other actors in the agri-
organisations has emerged as lic institutions as develop- cultural innovation system, in-
one of the most effective means mental partners in each target crease their capacity to provide
of addressing the challenges sector. The cooperative sector of rural advisory services, especially
faced by agriculture sector. But the state offers a huge latent po- concerning demand-orientation,
the growth and establishment of tential for mobilizing farmer brokerage, flexibility,and commu-
FPO‟s, both in terms of number producers on the lines of FPOs nication.
and extent of activities, has not through facilitation of
been uniform across the crops in With a strong network of coop-
Kerala. The spices farming sec- erative institutions and diverse
tor, which contribute more than agricultural production sector,
10 per cent to the value of out- there is considerable scope
put, has not seen the emergence for
of FPOs. development of the FPO
smooth transition from coopera- mode of farmer collec-
tive legal framework to FPO tivization in Kera-
mode. The state which has a la. The organiza-
high intensity of farmer collec- tional, financial
tives in cooperative sector and commercial
should give special focus on this sustainability of FPOs in the
aspect of FPO develop- state can be further enhanced by
ment. leveraging the strengths and ad-
Policy incentives to support dressing the constraints through
FPO‟s must target facilitating pragmatic policies.
improved access to investments, The experiences of evolution
technology inputs and markets. and impact of FPOs in small
The external commercial envi- holder's crops like coconut and
ronment can be made friendlier rubber in Kerala state in India
through targeted policy discussed above clearly indicate
measures favouring FPO‟s. The the importance of facilitating
relaxing of licensing rules on FPOs in the sustainable devel-
trading, procurement, marketing opment of plantation sector.
operations etc. can enlarge the Global Forum for Rural Adviso-
scope of operations and facili- ry Services (GFRAS. 2015.) has
tate diversification of opera- made recommendations for en-
tions.
The network of FPOs in two FPO Members Strengthen their Marketing Linkages by Attending A Marketing Seminar
major crops of the state, coconut
and rubber shows the im- hancing the effectiveness of 1ICAR - Indian Institute of Spices
portance of handholding institu- FPOs which are very relevant Research, Kozhikode
tional services in development for the FPOs in plantation sector 2ICAR - Central Plantation Crop
of FPOs. as well. GFRAS suggests that Research Institute, Kasaragod.
By focusing on crops with high FPOs should increase their ca- Courtesy of the Indian Coconut
potential for value addition like pacities in good governance, Journal, CDB, India.
spices, leveraging network of organisational management, and
self help groups and addressing Federal -level coordination. Be-
constraints like access to train- sides they need to develop
ing services, credit and technol- mechanisms for delivering fi-
ogy can further strengthen the nancially sustainablerural adviso-
FPO sector in the state. ry services, promote a better un-
The possible missing link which
led to this situation might be the
absence of institutional hand-
holding services which were
available in case of crops like
coconut and rubber. Broadening
the base of farmer collectiviza-

20 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

References t Rondot, P. and Collion, M. H. 2001. Agri-
cultural producer organizations: Their
t Bijman, J. and Wollni, M. 2008. Producer contribution to rural capacity building and
organizations and vertical coordination: poverty reduction. Report of a Workshop,
An economic organization theory perspec- 28–30 June 1999. Washington, DC: The
tive. Paper presented at the International World Bank. Available: http://info.
Conference on Cooperative Studies, 7–9 worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/51025/
October, Köln, Germany. Available:http:// ZipAgExtension1/ ag extension1/ Materi-
coqa.nl/wp-content/images/bijman wollni_ als/ additional/ AgProdOrg-Proceedings-
producer organisation_ and vertical coor- en.pdf
dination _20082.pdf CDB (2007) http://
coconutboard.nic.in/docs/FPO-short- t Rubber Board (2016). http://rubberboard.
concept-note.pdf org.in/ManageScheme.asp?Id=45

t Chand, Ramesh., Prasanna, Lakshmi P.A. t Singh, S. and Singh, T. (2013) Producer
and Singh, Aruna (2011) Farm Size and Companies in India: A study of organiza-
Productivity: Understanding the Strengths tion and performance, Centre for Manage-
of Smallholders and Improving Their Live- ment in Agriculture,Indian Institute Man-
lihoods. Economic and Political Weekly, agement, Ahmedabad, 126 p.
June 25 2011. XLVI (26&27):5-11.
t Tagat, Venkatesh (2016) Financing for
t GFRAS. 2015. Producer organisations in Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) –
rural advisory services: Evidence and ex- Focus on Transforming Agricultural Lend-
periences. Position Paper. Lindau: Global ing, NABARD knowledge series -3, Nation-
Forum for Rural Advisory Services. al bank for Agriculture and Rural Develop-
ment, Mumbai. 68 p.
t Government of India (2011) Final Report
of Twelfth plan working group on disad- t Thompson, J., Teshome, A., Hughes, D.,
vantaged farmers, including women, Plan- Chirwa, E. and Omiti, J. 2009. Challenges
ning Commission, Government of India and opportunities for strengthening far-
available at http://indiagovernance.gov.in/ mers’ organisations in Africa: Lessons
files/working_group-reportfarmers. pdf from Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi. FAC
Policy Brief 31. Brighton: Future Agricul-
t Government of India (2013). Policy and tures Consortium.
process guidelines for farmer producer
organizations in India, Department of Ag- t Trebbin A and M Hassler 2012. Farmers’
riculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Ag- producer companies in India: a new con-
riculture, GoI, 92p. cept for collective action?. Environment
and Planning 44(2):411- 427.
t Government of Kerala (2016) An analyti-
cal study of Agriculture in Kerala. Direc- t World Bank (2008) World Development
torate of Agriculture, Government of Kera- Report 2007: Agriculture For Develop-
la. 339 p. ment, The World Bank, Washington DC.

t Mahesh, R. (2000) Farm Size - Productivi-
ty Relationship: Some evidence from Kera-
la. Working Paper 2, Kerala Institute for
Environment and Development (KIED),
Thiruvananthapuram.

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 21

THE ON PRIME PRIME COCONUT CLONING COMMERCIALISATION
PROJECT AND A POTENTIAL AUSTRALIAN COCONUT INDUSTRY

Julianne Biddle, Quang Thien Nguyen, Steve W. Adkins, Mike Foale 1

Cloned Coconut Seedlings in Acclimatization Chamber

Abstract
The Adkins Coconut Group at The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia has con-
ducted research on coconut conservation and propagation technologies for over 25
years. Recently, the group has advanced coconut cloning technology through somatic
embryogenesis (SE). It is generally accepted that billions of new coconut plants are need-
ed to fulfil growing industry demand over the next 10 years. Cloning has the potential to
quickly and cost effectively produce the vast number of coconut plants required to repop-
ulate ageing plantations and increase production. The use of SE propagation provides
the potential to gain tens of thousands of plants from only a few fruit and in a manner
which can occur faster than currently possible. The technology also has the potential to
provide sufficient plants of superior genetic potential to initiate an Australian coconut
plantation industry.
A subset of the UQ group, with the group name CocoBIO, was selected to take part in an
ON Prime program funded by The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Or-
ganisation (CSIRO). ON Prime is a pre-accelerator program that assists research teams
validate their research and discover industry applications. The CocoBIO team focused
on technologies which can tackle coconut seedling scarcity. The program included hands
-on, practical learning through a process of customer discovery, market validation, busi-
ness model development and intellectual property pathways. Through this program, Co-
coBIO gained a deep understanding of the industry by having detailed interactions with
some 60 industry members across the coconut supply chain in the Pacific region and Aus-
tralia.
Outcomes from the ON Prime program can be used to inform coconut industry decision
making. The results also provide a foundation to transform UQ’s research capacity into a
productive industry to serve industry demand for elite plantlets, in addition to providing
planting material from a robust genetic base for the establishment of an Australian coco-
nut plantation industry.

22 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

Introduction of coconut plants required to a protocol for the cryopreserva-
The world market for coconut repopulate ageing plantations tion of coconut germplasm.
products has grown strongly in and increase production. The Recent research has concentrat-
recent years, with similar trends use of SE provides the potential ed on perfecting tissue culture
observed in Australia. There has to gain thousands of plants from protocols for the multiplication
been considerable investment in only a few fruit in a far shorter of elite coconut genotypes using
Australian research, particularly timeframe than currently possi- SE. In addition to optimisation
supported by the Australian ble. The technology also has the of the technique, it is also im-
Centre for International Agricul- potential to provide sufficient portant to understand how SE
tural Research (ACIAR), into genetically elite plants to initiate can be adopted for the benefit of
the status of the coconut indus- an Australian coconut plantation the coconut industry. In this re-
tries in neighbouring countries, industry. gard, a subset of the UQ group,
especially in the south Pacific. The coconut team at UQ has with the group name CocoBIO,

Somatic Embryo Genesis Pathway

The coconut industry is facing a been developing coconut tissue was selected to take part in a
range of issues worldwide and culture technologies for over 25 research adoption and commer-
as a result demand is not being years (Sisunandar et al. 2012; cialisation facilitation process
met in some regions. As a result Sisunandar et al. 2010b; Sisu- termed “ON Prime”, funded by
demand for elite coconut varie- nandar et al. 2010a; Sisunandar The Commonwealth Scientific
ties has grown rapidly recently; et al. 2014; Samosir et al. 2006; and Industrial Research Organi-
there is now an urgent need to Samosir et al. 1999, 1998; Sa- sation (CSIRO). On Prime is a
cost effectively produce new mosir and Adkins 2014, 2005, pre-accelerator that assists re-
seedlings with desired traits 2004b, a; Nguyen et al. 2015; search teams validate their re-
(Nguyen et al. 2015). In this Nguyen et al. 2016; Magdalita search and discover industry
context, the rapid, mass multi- et al. 2010; Foale and Adkins applications.
plication of high oil producing, 2014; Adkins et al. 2000; Ad-
pathogen-free, insect resistant , kins et al. 2005; Adkins et al.
true-to-type coconut seedlings 1998; Adkins and Samosir
would play a fundamental role. 2002; Adkins et al. 2016; Ad-
These desirable productivity kins et al. 2011; Adkins 2007).
gains may be best achieved via The group has developed an
the use of the somatic embryo- embryo culture protocol that is
genesis (SE) (cloning) techno- has been used to collect and
logy, a process currently being move germplasm international-
optimised at the School of Agri- ly, and to commercially produce
culture and Food Sciences at Kopyor seedlings in high num-
The University of Queensland bers in Indonesia.
(Adkins et al. 2016; Nguyen et
al. 2016). The team has successfully pro-
Cloning (the capacity to multi- duced clonal plants from both
ply elite genotypes) has the po- zygotic and somatic tissues and
tential to quickly and cost effec-
2t3ively produce the vast number COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

The program included hands-on, “What part of your involvement The interviews confirmed that
practical learning through a pro- with coconut products do you there is a growing market for
cess of customer discovery, find most difficult?” All interac- coconut products, that product
market validation, business tions took place verbally, either quality is not consistent, that
model development and intel- in person or on the phone, with marketable material can be diffi-
lectual property pathways. notes taken during the inter- cult to source, and that food
During the program the Coco- view. On Thursday 23rd of No- fraud is an issue. Furthermore,
BIO team focused on technolo- vember 2017, in recognition of the industry is not meeting cur-
gies which can tackle coconut CocoBIO’s commitment, learn- rent market demand. It is evi-
seedling scarcity problems as ing velocity and overall perfor- dent here is no one simple an-
the world coconut industry is mance the team won the Bris- swer for industry improvement.
facing a seedling shortage due bane hub ON Prime3 Final Clearly, there is room for im-
to issues such as disease, pests, Showcase prize and a Perfor- provement in all aspects of the
extreme weather events and ag- mance Bonus. industry.
ing palms. Through the pro- Outcomes from the ON Prime It is observed that governments
gram, 60 in depth interviews program can be used to inform recognise the problems the in-
were conducted with people coconut industry decision mak- dustry is facing and are putting
from all parts of the coconut ing. The results also provide a in place strategies to encourage
value chain (including govern- foundation to transform UQ’s coconut replanting (free seed-
ment, researchers, farmers, research capacity into produc- lings and/or financial incen-
nurseries, tissue culture compa- tive, practical industry applica- tives). However, in numerous
nies, processors, importers, ex- tions, including applications for countries most production is
porters and end users) in the the establishment of an Australi- consumed domestically, leaving
Pacific and Australia, with the an coconut plantation industry. little available for export either
aim of testing general industry The findings and observations in unprocessed or value-added
assumptions and gaining a deep from these industry interviews forms.
understanding of the industry. have been summarised and
Interviews were conducted with grouped into general industry,
up to 15 open-ended questions Pacific Region and Australian
to encourage free expression of specific categories.
industry knowledge and discus- General Industry Findings
sion of industry pain points, for and Opportunities
example: “What is the greatest
threat for the industry?” and

World Production Shares of Major Vegetable Oils 2015/2016
24 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

Value Added Coconut Products from Pacific Island Countries

Detailed interactions with mem-
value-chain participants. It is con- bers of the coconut value chain
The need to bridge between re- sidered that raising awareness of confirm that disease, pests, price,
search and marketing was evi- farmers and their families quality and consistent supply are
dent, with strategies to have the through education initiatives re- the main industry concerns for
whole value chain working to- garding the coconut industry val- this region. However, the identi-
gether seen to be of importance. ue chain is likely to help. fied pain points (problems) are
There is clearly a disconnect be- not the same for everyone in the
tween the marketers of high- industry. Governments and indus-
value products at the end of the The attitudes of consumers were try bodies recognise the value of
value chain and the farmer. The also considered. It was evident coconut and the need to improve
industry clearly needs ready ac- that people care about the story the industry as a regional priority.
cess to affordable varieties that behind the product and its prove- Processors and exporters are and
are fast-growing, high-yielding nance. There was also support of most concerned with quality and
and disease/pest-resistant. As the need for genetic resources to consistent supply.
planting materials are lacking in be conserved and made available Farmers are more concerned
many regions, use of cloning is for industry sustainability purpos- about disease, pests and price,
viewed as a very promising tech- es.

nique to rapidly meet this identi- Findings from the Pacific Re- than re-planting and in many re-
fied need. gion gions of the Pacific are not inter-
ested in re-planting as they don’t
The interview process identified It is evident that the coconut in- necessarily recognise the value of
that end users are concerned dustry was, and remains, part of the crop. This is likely to reflect a
about the security of their supply the life and culture in the Pacific lack of an adequate price incen-
sources, with some looking to but is currently facing numerous tive. The price of copra, the main
invest in the value chain to safe- difficulties, with interventions product of the present industry, is
guard supply. It was recognised needed to rejuvenate the industry. generally low.
that farm-gate price is a strong These broad findings accord with
industry driver and that if returns the earlier observations of Re-
for making crude oil and other thinam (2006) and of Guarino
bulk products could be improved, (2006) concerning industry
then the industry would be more needs.
attractive and sustainable for all

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 25

There are unfulfilled product VCO & Coconut Oil
opportunities and waste issues
for the Pacific industry due to coconut oil, biofuel, biolubri- ed
geography, transport difficulties, cants, nutriceuticals and cos- by the
the underutilisation of unique meceuticals. Farmers in this re- UQ Coconut
local varieties and the technical gion are unlikely to see value in Group has predomi-
difficulties associated with real- re-planting coconut if they can- nantly focussed on the on the
ising the full range of coconut not derive a reasonable and con- international coconut industry,
product options. There are un- sistent income from the crop. some past work has been con-
derutilised local varieties that Fair pricing and clear pathways ducted regarding growing coco-
may have commercial value to market for simple and value- nut in Australia (Foale and
such as the “Garuk” coconut in added products are likely to Roebeling 2006; Foale 2003).
Papua New Guinea. It was noted drive the coconut industry sus- This survey sought to under-
that coconut water is not collect- tainability. stand whether coconut cloning
ed in PNG, Solomon Islands, In this region cloning could add (using SE) could add value in
Fiji or Samoa, even though in value by providing the ability to the current Australian context.
2014 the global market for co- quickly multiply palms resilient
conut water was $1.4 billion pests, disease or with unique Past impediments to coconut
US and it is predic -tedto to desirable traits. being developed as a significant
increase to $4.2 billion by 2019 commercial Australian crop in-
(Infiniti Research Limited Findings from Australia clude potential high labour and
2015). Although past research conduct- transport costs, low prices for
Coconut is known as the ‘tree of traditional coconut products and
life’, as all parts of the plant
have commercial value (Foale industry
2003), and new markets are
emerging for traditional and
new coconut products. There is
growing overseas demand for
coconut products with higher
economic value, such as coco-
nut types with unique fruit char-
acteristics (for example the
tasty jelly-like endosperm of the
makapuno or flavoursome aro-
matic water (Samosir et al.
2006)), niche food products
such as coconut sugar and dairy
substitutes (ice-creams and yo-
gurts), beverages, oils and envi-
ronmentally friendly products.
Coconut is a renewable source
of materials of value in the plant
nursery and building industries.
World coconut oil demand has
increased over the last decade
(Pham 2016). New coconut oil
markets include
virgin

26 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

An Australian Coconut Grower in His Coconut Garden

perceptions about the lag time domestic commercial coconut industry establishment. There is
between planting and marketable plantations. currently no research investment
harvests. However, the market in focussed on a domestic industry.
Australia for coconut products Outcomes from ON Prime indi- Those interested in Australian
has grown strongly in recent cate that although there is now coconut plantations recognise
years and current circumstances very little interest in coconut as there are risks associated with
may now make an industry attrac- an ornamental plant, there is gen- this new agricultural endeavour
tive and feasible. Furthermore, uine interest in coconut far-ming for Northern Australia. To miti-
with cloning technology being in Australia. The perceived clean gate risks an industry is likely to
close to commercialisation, with and green advantages of coconut be established based on mecha-
recent advances in agricultural to consumers are attractive to nisation and digitisation
automation (Gordon and Jackson Australian investors. Australian (technology) of monitoring,
2017; Seneviratne et al. 2009; importers have commented that farming, collecting, processing,
Jarimopas and Ruttanadat 2007; they would source coconut prod- supply and value-add.
Jarimopas and Kuson 2007; ucts locally if possible and some In Australia, cloning could add
Dubey et al. 2016), and with po- are interested in investing in set- value by providing the volume
tential expanding product mar- ting up parts of the value chain in of qua-lity planting
kets, it is increasingly likely that Australia. The attraction of a po-
coconut holds the potential to be tential secure, consistent supply
an economically viable crop for of high quality coconut pro-ducts
climatically suited Australian re- is seen as essential underpinning
gions. for the development of new prod-
ucts, especially given the chal-
Australia imports the vast majori- lenge of the current international
ty of its coconut products and supply situation for raw product.
there is very little local primary
production of coconut. There are Major impediments for a new
a few small businesses in North- coconut industry include research
ern Australia that harvest fruit support, information availability,
from ornamental palms located access to suitable planting materi-
predominantly on public land and al and knowledge of the cur-
private gardens to be sold as rent market situation
whole nuts, seedlings or value- (product options). Industry
added products such as coconut perception and the fear of
chips and virgin coconut oil. liability issues arising
However, there are currently no from falling nuts are also
likely to be obstacles for

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 27

Harvesting Coconut in Australia

UsIng a ’Cocotap’ Device to Get ties provided with new business industry in the Pacific Region
Coconut water from A Young and employment opportunities and Australia and the potential
Coconut. where suitable land is available. applications of coconut cloning.
Conclusion The results provide unique in-
material required to for a new The ON Prime coconut industry dustry insights. Ideally, this
industry. Access to cloning interviews indicate that there is work could be expanded to cov-
technology, in addition to a a range of methods that can be er more industry stakeholders in
strong technical foundation and utilised to improve the liveli- other regions to gain a more
market outlook for coconut pro- hoods of coconut growers. The comprehensive understanding of
duction in Northern Australia is commercial application of coco- contemporary issues.
likely to stimulate investment by nut cloning is a valuable tool Acknowledgements
current and new primary pro- that can be used The authors would like to thank
ducers. An obvious beneficiary improve the industry, by provi- CSIRO for the opportunity to
would be indigenous communi- ding the foundation for a pro- take part in ON Prime. We also
ductive Australian plantation thank the Australian Centre for
industry and production of elite International Agricultural Re-
plantlets for the Pacific Region. search (ACIAR) and Kokonas
In addition, smallholder in- Indastri Koporesen (KIK) for
comes are likely to be enhanced financial support for the re-
by increasing value capture dur- search conducted in the Pacific
ing processing, reduction of Region.
risk, the application of high-
value alternative coconut prod- 1Authors are from School of Ag-
ucts, fair pricing and improved riculture and Food Sciences,
value chain co-ordi-nation. Most The University of Queensland,
importantly, the accessibility St Lucia 4072, Australia
and conservation of genetic co-
conut diversity is vital to secure
the future of the industry.
The work presented in this pa-
per is a snapshot of the coconut

28 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

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30 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

‘MALAI’- FROM THE NATURE BACK TO NATURE

AN ALTERNATIVE TO LEATHER FROM MATURE COCONUT WATER
Sona John1

Using mature coconut water, which is often disposed as a waste product -
Zuzana and Susmith create vegan - Malai for fashion and furnishings

Vegan alternatives to “Malai reconciles a pure, Simple
leather is a novel con- philosophical approach to manu-
cept and alternatives facturing with a sophisticated un-
are coming up from the derstanding of enviornmental sci-
most unlikeliest sources like ence and technological process
mushroom caps, pineapple, sea- resulting in a product that is
weed etc. Coconut water is the unique.”
latest and novel addition to the
list. Zuzana Gombosova from
Slovakia and Susmith Suseelan
from Kottayam, Kerala have
been working on mature coconut
water to create a sustainable ma-
terial, named ‘Malai’, flexible,
durable, biodegradable and water
resistant alternative to leather
which has naturally sparked in-
terest at Design Festivals across
the world.

Malai is developed by Malai Bio-
materials Design Pvt Ltd, a mate-
rial research and design studio
based in Kerala with Zuzana
Gombosova and Susmith
Suseelan as Co-founders. The
duo shares the process of devel-
oping Malai and the future appli-
cations of the material.

The Beginning

Zuzana Gombosova initially
started working with bacterial
cellulose during her Master's de-
gree in London. Her job as Mate-
rial Researcher brought her to
Mumbai, India. She was keen to
explore the possibility of growing
bacterial cellulose in India in sim- bai, where he met Zuzana. material. They wanted to produce
ilar lines to the traditional ‘Nata Susmith who hails from ‘the land healthy material that has more to
de Coco’in Phillipines where it is of Coconuts’ was also interested offer and causes least damage to
an important part of food indus- in bacterial cellulose and ‘Nata the environment. Both left their
try. De Coco’. Zuzana and Susmith corporate jobs and focused more
found that they shared more sim- on material development.

Susmith,is a Product Designer ilar profound values, passion for
with background in Mechanical craft and making as well as a con-
Engineering. A graduate from cern for sustainability and the
IISc Bangalore, he joined the in- environment. Malai started as a
house Design studio of a large result of their personal experienc-
manufacturing company in Mum- es of what it takes to produce a

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 31

Malai Biomaterials Design Pvt
Ltd began liaising with inde-
pendent Czech designers and
companies to create and test
products using Malai. One of the
first ones to adopt Malai in their
product line was ‘Playbag’ a
company from Zlin,CZ (city of
Bata) who made a wallet and
hand bag. There has been a col-
laboration with Kazeto (CZ), tra-
ditionally known for paperboard
products, especially suitcases. A
biodegradable shoe, using Malai
and Carfting, Plastics!, a bioplas-
tics company, was designed by
Berlin-based footwear designer
Sophia Guggenberger.

It was presented at Designblok
Prague (a design show in the
Czech Republic). TON, a tradi-
tional bent furniture brand, added
Malai to one of their signature
bar stool to create a striking seat-
ing option. “Two companies are
currently testing Malai to create
vegan watchstraps,” says Zuzana,
who participated at London De-
sign Festival in September.

Yoga bags and mats are next,
given Malai’s chemical-free na-
ture. Associations with Indian
designers are also on the cards. .
“Malai has a nutty smell and a
leather grain but it is stiffer than
The first sample was developed leather. That could explain why it
after six months and almost 100 of the end product. The role of is often kneaded by hand to
recipes later. The journey had the coconut water is to provide nutri- achieve drape and softness, a pro-
humblest beginnings with their ents for bacteria while producing cess fittingly termed the massage
personal savings. bacterial cellulose. says Zuzana.

What Is Malai This bacterial cellulose is a nano The duo is open for collaboration
Malai is a cellulose-cellulose bio- -material with a three- with manufacturers and designers
composite material which look, dimensional fibrous network and who are looking for sustainable
feel and functions similar to ani- this glues together natural fibres materials for making bags, wal-
mal leather made primarily from via hydrogen bonding and physi- lets, clutches, pouches, etc. At the
coconut water and natural fibres. cal entanglements forming the moment, the studio is working on
Malai is strong as leather and the biocomposite. Starting from the the next stage of development
durability of the material is better raw materials, making of Malai where it is being tested for foot-
than artificial leather and is col- takes 3-4 weeks depending on wear and furniture use. ‘At Malai
climatic conditions. Biomaterials Designs, we make

oured using natural dyes such as They procure natural fibres from sustainable materials and Malai is
indigo, madder or cutch. Seem- banana farmers, who otherwise
ingly a cross between leather and discard the stems after the fruit is
handmade paper, Malai can be harvested. They have listed and
cut, glued, stitched and embossed, are exhibiting Malai in different
and has since been used to create material libraries that helped
footwear, upholstery and accesso- them get enquiry from manufac-
ries. turers. The team constantly re-

How Is Malai Made searches on various other aspects
on how to improve the quality of
the material and replace animal
In the process of developing Ma- leather in all applications.
lai, the duo discovered that using
natural fibres along with bacterial
cellulose can enhance the quality Future with Malai

32 COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019

COCOINFO INTERNATIONAL, VOL. 26, No. 1, 2019 Zuzana Gombosova and Susmith Suseelan

our flagship material. For a material
to be sustainable the entire lifecycle has
to be sustainable. We add value to
waste streams like coconut water and
banana fibres, our process of making
Malai is efficient and clean, it is a per-
fect combination of aesthetics and func-
tionality, the material can last as long
as you wish to and end of life, the ma-
terial safely composts and become soil:
back to where it began. This is the sus-
tainable future”. concludes Susmith.

1IJSona Jone is a Senior Staff of Indi-
an Coconut Development Board, India
Courtesy of the Indian Coconut Jour-
nal, CDB, India.

33