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Coconut crisis – can drip irrigation save the

industry?

Wednesday, 20 December 2017

For the past year and more, the consumers had to undergo severe hardship due
to the price increase of coconut, an essential item in daily food, which cost
around Rs. 30-40 two years ago, climbed to Rs. 100-120 and is still climbing.

Housewives have no alternative than to reduce the consumption of coconuts, but


pol sambol, green leaves with coconut and in white curries, coconut is an
essential ingredient. The Government blamed the poor rainfall experienced
during the past for the reduced yields and small coconut size. But was the
calamity beyond control? The article looks at possible long-term solutions to avert
similar situations.

Lands for coconut cultivation – History


From the time of ancient kings, locals cultivated lands to fulfil their economic
requirements. British having taken control over then Ceylon in 1815, their Crown
Lands Encroachment Ordinance No. 12 of 1840, took over all uncultivated lands
under the Government control.

The British distributed lands taken over (sold at low prices) for cultivation of
coffee (later tea), rubber and coconut. Westerners used to cold climates happily
accepted upcountry lands, but were reluctant to locate in hot dry regions for
coconut. Lands were accepted by the enterprising locals, mostly Sinhalese.
Muslims preferred trading and did not wish cultivation.

The Colonial Government encouraged the cultivation of coconut, particularly in


the north west of the island. The rapid expansion of the coconut industry had
begun in the late 1850s, but the pace had been accelerated in the 1860s. The
acreage went up from about 250,000 in the 1860s to 850,000 in the first decade
of the 20th century. (K.M. De. Silva, ‘A History Sri Lanka’). Some families and
family-owned companies took over large extents of land such as the De Mel
family in Kurunegala and Melsiripura was named accordingly. By the end of the
1960s Sri Lanka had the peak acreage of well-cultivated coconut cultivations in
the history of the country.

The United Front Government came into power in 1970, launched the Land
Reform Law of 1972, under which all individuals and companies owning highland
in excess of a ceiling of 50 acres and paddy lands in excess of 25 acres were to
declare and hand over their estates to the State. The Government took over the
estates, but had not given thought to control and development thereafter.
Management of estates taken over were given to political stooges, quality and
production dropped dramatically and years later some lands were handed over to
plantation corporations. Worst of all, the workers’ discipline crashed overnight,
destruction had been done. Plantation companies came much later.

In land area wise, from a peak of 1.15 million acres in 1962, area under coconut
decreased to 976,000 acres in 2002. In 2006 ‘Weligama Wilt’ was reported in the
south and resulted removal of 300,000 palms at the initial stages and more in
repeated cycles.

Shortage of coconuts
The current shortage of coconuts is attributed to poor rainfall during past two
years affecting especially the Kurunegala District, the major producer of coconut
in the country. The shortage of coconut was not a sudden occurrence. Over the
years, coconut production dropped due to:

A. Poor production in estates taken over by the Government.

B. Formerly, most estates were cared by owners residing in the estates. With the
restriction on admission of children to popular schools based on distance, estate
owners moved to Kurunegala, leaving plantations with caretakers, resulting in
drop in management, fertilising and production.

C. Sale of coconut lands for housing, especially by the main roads.

D. Shortage of labour and their quality.

Government response
With the increasing price of coconut in the market, the Government imposed
price control declaring the maximum selling price of a coconut as Rs.75 per nut,
forcing most shops to stop selling. Others display few very small coconuts at the
controlled price. When inquired, shop keepers would offer bigger coconuts from
the shop rear at a higher price.

State control of coconut industry


Government command over the coconut industry is executed under
the Coconut Development Authority, Coconut Cultivation Board and Coconut
Research Institute, but they failed to offer a solution to climatic variations.

Solution from Coconut Development Authority

On 14 December, with a half page colour advertisement in Daily Mirror


newspaper (plus others as well), the Coconut Development Authority, the premier
organisation responsible for the cultivation and development of the coconut
industry, offered the public a solution to the current shortage of coconuts in the
market. The advertisement read:

Solution to the dearth of coconuts...

Permission to import coconut kernels...


The Government has decided to import coconut kernels as a solution to the
prevailing dearth of coconuts.

If you are interested, start importing coconut kernels without delay...

Coconut Development Authority

Ministry of Plantations Industries

The Sri Lankan coconut industry: Current status


and future prospects in a changing climate

Extracts from an article by Pathirajah, a PhD Candidate from CRI, with a professor
and two staff members from an Australian University, Published in Australia in
January 2015.

“Coconut production is closely tied to the distribution pattern of rainfall in


previous years. Therefore, considering rainfall as the most important yield
determining factor, lagged rainfall is often used in coconut yield prediction
studies. A model including lagged quarterly rainfall of the previous year was
capable of predicting yield 15 months ahead.

“Coconut requires a well distributed rainfall throughout the year. However, there
are two peaks and two stress periods in the intermediate zone due to the bimodal
monsoon rainfall. In the dry zone, there is a longer dry period since rainfall is
received from one monsoon. Therefore, soil moisture conservation is an already
established adaptation strategy in coconut plantations.

“Irrigation during the water deficit or drought periods is identified as the most
effective adaptation, having a potential to increase yield by 30 percent. However,
this is restricted by the availability of water for irrigation during the drought. The
other factors that determine water requirements are soil type, soil moisture
availability, relative humidity, evaporation and transpiration and age of the plant.
Water sources for irrigation are open wells, tube wells reaching deep
underground water reservoirs or ponds. Sprinkler irrigation is identified as
suitable for commercial scale nurseries. Drip irrigation is the most suitable
method since it has advantages on efficient water use, fertiliser application
(fertigation) and less labour cost. However above methods involve high capital
investments.” End of extract.

Extracts from an article in Business Times January 2011:

From a veteran coconut grower on 40 acres, in the Puttalam District:

“According to available data from 2003 to 2010 crops have been affected owing
to variations in rainfall and the depth of the water table. Last year, the rainfall
received in November was more than the total rainfall that was received in the
previous 10 months. The data also shows how the rainfall and the depth of the
ground water drastically affects the coconut crop. This is the main reason why we
are facing a severe coconut shortage after the middle of 2010. In the same
manner we can predict a much worse shortage of coconuts in 2011.

“The methods adopted to increase the profitability of the land should be:
 Irrigate the coconut trees when the ground water level drops below six
feet from the surface. This applies to sandy soil otherwise it should be
done at about five feet. The application of irrigation also depends on the
height of the trees, as taller trees need more energy to draw water up to
the crown, and should be done before the water levels drop below 6 feet.
 Grow intercrops in between the coconut plantation.
 Utilise available land for animal husbandry.” End of quote.
Drip irrigation
It is clear that coconut plantations are extremely sensitive on availability of water.
But until now none of the responsible institutions in Sri Lanka recommended or
encouraged growers to drip-irrigate their plantations. However, the research
candidate from CRI along with Australian teaching staff identifies drip irrigation is
needy, especially when rainfall fails.

Drip-irrigation, sometimes called trickle irrigation, involves dripping water onto


the soil at very low rates (two to 20 litres/hour) from a system of small diameter
plastic pipes fitted with outlets called emitters or drippers. Water is applied close
to plants so that only soil area where roots are present is wetted, unlike surface
and sprinkler irrigation, which involves wetting the whole soil profile. With drip-
irrigation water, applications are more frequent (usually every one to three days)
than with other methods and this provides a very favourable high moisture level
in the soil in which plants can flourish.

The high efficiency of drip irrigation results soaking of water into the soil before it
evaporates or run off. Also the water is only applied where it is needed, (at the
plant’s roots) rather than sprayed everywhere.

In Sri Lanka around 5% of private coconut plantations have installed drip-


irrigation facilities. However, in Kerala, South India, nearly 90% coconut
plantations are provided with drip-irrigation facilities with help from the Indian
Government. Given below are extracts from Indian institutions.

From Coconut Cultivation Board, India


Irrigation – Soil moisture very often limits coconut production in those areas
where long spell of dry weather prevail or where the rainfall is scanty and ill-
distributed. So irrigate the palms during summer months in basins around the
palm. The irrigation requirement varies according to the soil type and climatic
condition. Generally, an adult palm requires 600 to 800 litres of water once in
four to seven days. Irrigate in basins of 1.8m radius and 10-20 cm depth. In
coastal sandy soils, sea water can be used for irrigating adult palms. Do not
irrigate seedlings and very young palms up to two years with sea water. In
irrigated gardens interruption of irrigation would lead to serious set-back in yield
and general condition of palms. Hence, when once started irrigation should be
continued regularly and systematically. However, Drip irrigation is the best suited
method of irrigation for coconut, saving water, labour and energy.

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University


Irrigation and soil moisture conservation: Each palm requires 55 to 120 litres of
water every day. Since availability of irrigation water is scanty, for judicious
utilisation of this resource, adoption of drip irrigation system is most ideal.

Drip irrigation is known to save about 30-40% water with 38-40% increase in yield
compared to basin irrigation system apart from conserving soil and reducing the
competition from weeds for water and nutrients. Through fertigation, we can
achieve efficient utilisation of both water and nutrients.

In the traditional system of irrigation followed in coconut gardens such as flood


irrigation, basin irrigation, etc. irrigation efficiency is only 30 to 50% due to
considerable wastage of water. In addition, cost on inputs like labour and energy
in adopting these systems are high. Scarcity of water and increasing cost of labour
and energy are deterrents in adopting these traditional irrigation systems. Under
these circumstances, drip irrigation is the most suitable system of irrigation to
coconut.

Some of the major advantages of drip irrigation are:


 It saves water
 Enhances plant growth and yield
 Saves energy and labour, most suited for soils having low water holding
capacity and undulating terrain
 Reduces weed growth and improves efficiency of fertilisers.
Helping cultivators in India
As a policy to encourage use of such systems, the Government of India under
Centrally sponsored Scheme for small and marginal farmers to increase irrigation,
provides subsidy to the extent of 50% of the cost of the equipment, the balance is
available by institutional credit.

Sri Lanka Budget 2018


The Budget for the year 2018, presented in Parliament by the Finance Minister,
based on the theme ‘Blue-Green’ Budget, under ‘From Local Entrepreneurs to
Global Leaders’ offered numerous incentives targeted at generating an
environmentally sustainable economic growth by utilising indigenous resources
and offered financial assistance. The proposals included adopting new sustainable
technologies in the agriculture, fisheries and manufacturing sectors, which would
contribute to reducing environmental risks and ecological imbalances.

Although a number of extensive incentives were offered to various agricultural


ventures, the coconut industry was offered only following.

1. NBT on domestic coconut oil and kernel products will be removed for a period
of one year.

2. Introducing regulations to ensure mandatory packaging and labelling and


standardisation of quality in compliance with international quality standards for
all coconut kernel products.

3. Rs. 25 m will be allocated to support the Coconut Research Institute to produce


hybrid coconut seedlings.

Unfortunately, no mention was made on drip-irrigation for coconut plantations or


for any other crops. When every other sector requested assistance to develop
their areas, responsible staff of Institutions for the coconut industry, neglected
requesting help, meanwhile most coconut plantations were wilted and some
trees dying. They failed to bring to the attention of the Minister of Finance the
need for financial assistance for the installation of drip irrigation systems. Surely,
these officers must be aware that coconut production in India amounts to 4.5
times the Sri Lanka’s output. Also in South India’s Kerala State over 90% coconut
plantations are supplied with drip-irrigation with a subsidy of 50% from their
government.

Discussion
Coconut plantations are extremely sensitive on availability of water and the yield
depends on timely supply of water and fertiliser. Under best of weather
conditions, between Yala and Maha and vice-versa are dry periods, when trees
could benefit from water. Past weather patterns show irregularities of rains are
common. Thus coconut plants would extremely benefit from drip-irrigation
facilities and increased incomes would far outweigh costs.

According to the Indian experience, drip irrigation would yield 38-40% increase in
yield compared to basin irrigation system. In our country basin irrigation is
unheard and the plants are at the mercy of rain-gods. Thus drip-irrigation would
ensure doubling of current yields, apart from saving trees dying and wilting during
droughts.
Way forward
When the Finance Minister presented the ‘Blue-Green’ Budget, if the authorities
responsible for coconut plantations requested support for drip-irrigation, the
Minister would have surely obliged. Even now, if the coconut cultivators,
members of the coconut industry who depend on coconut supplied from growers,
suppliers of drip-irrigation equipment, along with Government coconut
authorities (if they are willing) make representatives to the Minister of Finance
and the Prime Minister, financial support for the installation of drip-irrigation
systems would be a possibility. The Prime Minister wished to issue rods for fishing
and supporting drip-irrigation would be along with his thinking, especially when
Provincial elections are around the corner.

Even if the Government accepts support for drip-irrigation, Cabinet acceptance,


passage of a bill through the Parliament, and establishment of procedure funding
may be one year away. Installation of the system would involve construction of a
well or a bore-hole, procurement of pumps, water delivery system and installing
the system. The system could be powered through electricity or solar-power. The
government assistance need to include duty free import of systems, payment of a
subsidy (50% subsidy in India may not be practical here) depending on the
plantation size and electricity for pumps at a reduced rate.

The proposed subsidy for the installation of drip irrigation systems would cost the
Government. But from the moment of installation, each coconut plantation would
achieve freedom from harsh weather. In 15 months plantation would yield higher
production, the industry will be saved and the population will enjoy lower
coconut prices, a win-win situation for all.
Posted by Thavam

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