Report compiled for the 2007 Paris International Agricultural Fair
All you need to know about coconut
Watching over coconut
Efficient coconut-based agrosystems
An answer to farmers' expectations
In large agroecological zones of mainland coastal and insular areas of the humid intertropical regions, coconut is primarily grown on smallholdings. Its uses are highly diversified. It is most often grown to produce nuts for family consumption and as a source of income from the sale of copra, eating nuts and other coconut products.
Coconut palms are often an important component of farming systems located in ecosystems that are becoming increasingly fragilized by population increases, a reduction in available arable land, erosion and a drop in fertility resulting from inappropriate management.
For further information, see:
Efficient agrosystems (PDF - 751.68 ko)
Carbon sequestration by coconut plantations
A major asset for profitability and sustainability
Coconut plantations are suffering from a downward trend in copra prices and a drop in fertility during rotations. Reinvigorating the supply chain will call for intercrops, higher added-value products and by-products, and sustainable and ecological management.
Carbon lies at the heart of those challenges, through its applications: coconut oil-energy (one of the best natural substitutes for diesel oil), carbon sinks (carbon market) and management of by-products and litter (sustainability).
Since 2000, CIRAD has been carrying out research on the carbon balance considered on a coconut plantation scale, but also for eucalyptus and natural rubber.
For further information, see:
Carbone sequestration (PDF - 634.90 ko)
A new direction for the coconut supply chain
Making more of the food potential of nuts
The decline in the industrial era of the coconut palm geared primarily towards coconut oil production has begun. That does not mean that the industries using coconut are about to disappear, but they will gradually be turning to other, more specific products of the plant that are adapted to modern consumer demands. The coconut palm is reverting back to what it was for millennia, a smallholder food crop, or a fruit tree of towns and villages, a plant that typifies a civilization with a strong environmental and cultural impact. Research is under way to ensure that the reconversion goes hand in hand with high added value.
For further information, see:
Valorisation_potentiel_alimentaire (PDF - 534.60 ko)
The astonishing diversity of the coconut palm under threat
Preserving and making the most of such wealth
Over the millennia, man has slowly created and preserved numerous coconut varieties that are nowadays used for food, medicinal and ritual purposes. The result is an abundant diversity that is notably displayed in the colour and shape of the fruits. However, those varieties, which have been passed down from generation to generation, are now under threat from the globalization of trade, cultural levelling and the industrialization of agriculture.
For further information, see:
Coconut diversity (PDF - 631.74 ko)
Coconut lethal yellowing diseases
For an integrated control strategy
Coconut lethal yellowing diseases, caused by phytoplasmas, have destroyed numerous coconut plantations in the Caribbean zone and Africa. Over the last 20 years, they have devastated the coconut plantations of the Atlantic coast of Mexico, in Honduras and Jamaica, leaving hundreds of thousands of families without resources, and are now affecting new islands in the Caribbean. Several countries in East and West Africa have also been seriously affected. There is still no remedy, despite international research programmes–primarily implemented in the Caribbean and Florida. Research on these diseases is one of CIRAD's priorities.
For further information, see:
Lethal yellowing diseases (PDF - 565.69 ko)
Invasive insects on palms
Ecofriendly control methods
The growing trade between continents is increasing the introduction of insects, some of which are prone to sudden, damaging outbreaks once they become established in the absence of their range of natural enemies. For instance, palm monocultures–oil palm, coconut, date palm–induce strong parasite pressure. Meeting the immediate needs of farmers when faced with the damage caused by pests is a priority. Learning about such pests calls for an IPM approach.
For further information, see:
Invasive insects (PDF - 930.07 ko)