Root-wilt resistant coconut varieties help recover yields in India

Kochi: Root-wilt resistant varieties of coconut seedlings, released by the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute’s (CPCRI) Research Station in Kayamkulam, have become popular, particularly in homesteads. The disease had become an endemic, and the resistant variety has helped increase yield after a long time.

Of the three varieties released, two — Kalpasree and Kalpa Sankara — are proved to be ideal for copra and oil production, while the third, Kalparaksha, has exhibited potential as a commercial variety in the tender coconut water segment.

Kalpasree, found to have superior quality of coconut oil, is recommended for cultivation in homesteads in the root-wilt diseased tract, Dr P M Mathew, Head of the CPCRI station told Business Line.

“It has a high yield potential also,” he said.

Kalpa Sankara is also rapidly becoming a popular coconut hybrid in the root-wilt prevalent tract mainly because of its short stature, precocity, tolerance to this disease and satisfactory yield, he said. Last year the station had received request for 10,000 seedlings.

Other advantages are its early bearing character, besides being a semi-tall variety, making harvesting easy now when there is a severe shortage of climbers/labour, he pointed out. Drought tolerance studies have revealed that tolerance to moisture stress is also significant in this variety, he said.

Apart from being root-wilt resistant, Kalpasree’s “oil has better cooking quality and is healthier compared to West Coast Tall (WCT) oil… data on fatty acid profile reveals that Kalpasree is rich in long chain unsaturated fatty acids (LUFA’s) compared to WCT and COD (Chowghat Orange Dwarf).”

“Besides, tender nut water and its meat is sweeter compared to other varieties,” he said.

This variety bears fruit early too. Being a dwarf variety harvesting is easy. “SSR (simple sequence repeat) analysis shows that Kalpasree population in the disease hotspots is uniform. Therefore, huge demand for its seedlings from farmers in the root-wilt diseased tract comes to us,” Dr. V. Krishnakumar, Senior Scientist, said.

The commercial advantage of Kalparaksha is that its tender nut water is sweet and abundant, therefore, it can be cultivated on a large scale for tender nut water, he said. Moreover, he said, it is semi-tall in nature, hence climbing for harvesting will be easy, reducing the cost of cultivation.

Experts say though the seedlings of these three varieties can be used for planting in disease-prevalent tracts, integrated management practices will be followed in endemic areas to improve health of palms and sustain productivity.

“Raising different kind of crops in the coconut garden as inter-/mixed crop will help to meet the nutritional requirement of farm families and also to earn additional income for the farmer. It also provides sufficient quantity of organic biomass for recycling to partly meet the nutritional requirement of coconut and component crops,” Dr. Krishnakumar said. Suitable crop rotations will also be followed while cultivating annual crops in the garden.

A variety of crops can be cultivated as inter-/mixed in the coconut gardens without affecting the yield of coconut. Tuber crops such as cassava, elephant foot yam, colocasia, other greater and lesser yams, vegetables; annual crops such as ginger, turmeric; perennials like black pepper, nutmeg, and fruit crops, viz., banana, pineapple and papaya can be cultivated.

In fact, cultivating crops having different stature and rooting pattern in the same field ensures effective utilisation of natural resources such as land, water, light and space and provides biomass for recycling and gives maximum returns.

It will not only ensure regular returns to the farmers but also provide more employment for their families.

Since coconut palm is prone to infestation by a large number of pests, an effective pest management system has to be adopted, Dr. Jacob and Dr. Krishnakumar said.



They said that lack of continuity and consistency in implementing integrated pest management and other farm management practices is mainly responsible for the prevalence of diseases, pest attacks and consequent low yield in the State.

Coconut is grown as a homestead crop, hence, by and large, it is neglected, they said, adding, if grown as a plantation crop with high yielding drought- and disease-resistant varieties and strictly adhering to good farm management practices, the yield would increase, besides becoming economically viable.

(The Hindu)