by Dr. P. G. Punchihewa

“It’s an old and common saying: The coconut tree affords meat, drinks and cloth, true. I’ll also like to add – toddy, wine, vinegar, oil, milk and honey … all eatables, besides it affords other necessaries as mats, brooms, bottles, dishes and ropes” –so wrote Robert Knox the English sailor and trader in 1681 who spent 19 years in captivity in the island. .Long before Knox, coconut had played a vital role in the lives of the people of Sri Lanka. The first coconut plantation in the island, (cocopalm garden three yojanas in length according to Culavamsa )- may be even in the world-, was established during the reign of Aggabodhi I, He ruled from 571A.D to 604 A.D.

But Knox’s statement was the first which spelled out the many uses of the coconut tree in detail.

Coconut, a subsistence crop had to await the arrival of the colonial powers in the island, particularly the British, to change to a plantation crop. With the finding of new uses of coconut oil, in the manufacture of margarine, candles and soap in Europe, the demand for coconut oil increased by leaps and bounds. Accordingly all the major colonial powers started the cultivation of coconut in their colonies. The British in India and Sri Lanka, the Dutch in East Indies, French in Africa, and the Germans in the Pacific. The ‘Forward’ written by Sir W.H. Lever, the founder of Lever Brothers, to ‘Coconuts-the Consoles of the East’ published by Smith and Pape, speaks of the keen interest shown by the British in the cultivation of coconut as follows.

“I know of no field of tropical agriculture that is so promising and I do not think in the whole world there is a promise of so lucrative an investment of time and money as in this industry. The world is only just awakening to the value of coconut oil in the manufacturing of artificial butter of the highest quality and of the byproduct copra cake as a food for cattle.”

Accordingly, 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 page 287).

Apart from encouraging the rapid expansion of the area under coconut, the English diverted the industry to processing of coconut products as well. The establishment of a crushing plant for milling copra into oil and copra meal commenced around 1830 and there had been regular shipments of oil from Ceylon to Europe. In 1853 Sri Lanka had exported, 33,900 gallons. (Samuel Baker: Eight Years in Ceylon: pg. 158.)

In 1855 soap making commenced and several kinds of soap were produced and exported. Sri Lanka was thus ahead of most of the coconut producing countries that were continuing to export only copra. The 19th century also saw Sri Lanka taking another important step in processing of coconut products.

Following the industrial revolution the need arose for a cheap ingredient for the ever increasing demand for candy among the working class in the UK. Coconut proved to be ideal. But the practice at the time to import the whole nut was cumbersome and expensive. Experiments had been carried out in the UK to find a solution. It was discovered that grated coconut meat heated on steam tables resulted in it not becoming rancid and the result was desiccated coconut. The first desiccated coconut factory was established at Dematagoda and by 1890 Sri Lanka had exported 6,000 tons of desiccated coconut. In 1900 it had gone up to 60,000 tons. At that time, Sri Lanka was the leading exporter of desiccated coconut.

Similarly, the first fiber mill was set up in the 19th century and in 1853, 2,380 tons of coir had been exported. Coconut thus came to be one of the three major exports of the island, the other two being tea and rubber.

Along with the plantation and industrial sectors coconut continued as a small holder crop serving mostly the needs of the local population. Coconut being an important food item of the people, with the increasing population, the consumption increased and by mid nineteen -fifties the export of kernel products, mainly desiccated coconut, coconut oil and copra decreased. A study done in 1969 for UN/ECAFE reported as follows “The fall in Ceylon’s exports of both copra and coconut oil in recent years particularly since 1964 is attributable to the progressive decline in exportable surpluses owing to a rising domestic consumption” (The Coconut Industry of Asia’ page 58) .

The downward trend continues .The exportable surplus as a percentage of production has varied from a high of 38.2% in 1985 to a low of 14.0%in 2007. (Coconut Statistics 2017 C.D.A page 11.)Product wise a volume of 56,144 MT coconut oil exported in 1985 declined to 6,310 in 2017 and 52,157 MT of desiccated coconut to 29,418 MT for the same period.

However there are a few , new kernel products –virgin coconut oil, coconut cream (milk) and powder and coconut water which are just making an entry into the export market (page 12 CDA).In 2017 the kernel product exports have brought in $312,316, 000.

It has been able to reach these levels of exports only due to a new trend in imports. To augment the local supplies Sri Lanka has been importing vegetable oils and fats for some time .But from 2005, it had increased by leaps and bounds. Till then imports were mainly for industrial purposes. But from 2005 large volumes of crude palm oil have been increasingly imported for edible purposes as well, reaching 121,706 MT in 2015.This is in addition to the import of small volumes of soya oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil. The total value of vegetable oils and fats imports in 2017 had been Rs. 29,662,257,394 of which the largest volume was for crude palm oil and palm oil products. (Table 23, 24 CDA.)It also cushioned the local nut price increase in order to satisfy the domestic consumers.

However as against the declining value of kernel products a redeeming factor is the enhanced export earnings from non-kernel products which has amounted to $ 283,872,000), in 2017compared to $94,989,000 in 2005 and $ 188,722,000 in 2010 .Products like coir pith and molded coir products for use in horticulture and increased volume of activated carbon have accounted for this enhanced export earnings.

There is a number of factors responsible for this huge drop in exports in kernel products. While the Philippines and Indonesia have vast extents brought under coconut, running into several millions of hectares, in Sri Lanka coconut acreage is shrinking due to urbanization, opening up of new industrial ventures, fragmentation of holdings, crop diversification, pests, diseases, and drought. From a peak of 1.15 million acres in 1962 the area under coconut decreased to 1.09 million acres in 2015.The study done by the Department of Census and Statistics in 2005 revealed that the aggregate extent under coconut crop at national level has declined by about 5% during the period from 1982-2002( page 4 of the study)

In 2006 the ‘Weligama Wilt’ was reported and it was estimated that 300,000 palms at the initial stages and more in repeated cycles had to be removed. March 16,2019 ,Daily Mirror reported of 96,000 coconut trees on 1,200 acres to be felled to construct the Bingiriya Free Trade Zone. Felling of coconut trees is continuing. And the production of coconut has remained static. Since 1980 Sri Lankan coconut production had exceeded 3,000 million nuts only few times. The average yield is around 2,500 nuts per acre per annum.

However it is noticed that in 2017 the domestic consumption has come down to 1,700 million nuts from a high of 2437 million nuts in 2008.In earlier years (2005) the domestic consumption was calculated at 95.52 fresh nuts and 1, 02 kg of coconut oil per head per annum approximately. (Coconut Statistics CDA 2005). But the 2017 report dumps fresh coconut consumption, coconut oil consumption, milk powder consumption and adjustment stocks all under domestic consumption. (Coconut Statistics 2017).With a provisional population of 21.44 million in 2017, it is surprising how the consumption had come down so drastically particularly when in the previous year it was reported that the domestic consumption was 2119 million nuts and the provisional population 21.20 million. It is worth studying this situation in the next few years as to why it happened.

Efforts to increase production and productivity have not had much effect. Sri Lanka has introduced only four high yielding varieties since 1960 the bulk coming from the two earlier varieties. The total number of seedlings issued from 2008 to 2017 is 386,555 (in thousands) ( Sri Lanka Coconut Statistics 2017). On the basis of 64 trees to an acre this should cover an area of more than 600,000 acres! By now some of them should be bearing. Obviously there is something wrong with the quality of seedlings or statistics!

From the above facts and figures, it is obvious that the future of the coconut industry in the island is not that rosy. Unless the industry and the government take corrective measures, an industry with so much of potential is on the path of no return. A study covering all the aspects of the industry and involving all stake holders is a necessity.

In the coconut industry there are many stake holders. Starting from coconut growers there are the processors of different products. Copra, desiccated coconut ,coconut oil, virgin coconut oil ,coconut water ,coconut cream, fiber products, coconut shell charcoal ,activated carbon and many others. They all operate in water tight compartments. There should be a forum chaired by the C.D.A where they could meet and discuss their sectoral and industry problems regularly.

Unlike in rubber or tea it is not possible to get actual and correct figures except for exports of coconut products. The total extent under coconut is taken from the agricultural census conducted once in ten years. By the time the figures are available nearly eleven to twelve years have lapsed and much change would have taken place on ground specially with felling of coconut trees for various activities. Therefore reliance on them for planning for the industry would naturally give a wrong picture.

In order to assess the current situation of the extent of land under coconut and production levels, the feasibility of conducting a regular random or sample survey under the direction of the Department of Census and Statistics should be considered. Field level officers of the Coconut Cultivation and Research Boards could be used for this survey.

Earlier domestic consumption was calculated on the basis of the household income and expenditure survey conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics. Now the basis of calculation is not provided with the overall figure.

Although recently exports of non-kernel products have increased in volume and value ultimately it too depends on the increased production of coconut. As such it should be the concern of processors and exporters of kernel as well as non-kernel products to get involved with projects to increase production .They have the capital and a drop in nut production may affect their outputs.

One last question is how long Sri Lanka is going to depend on import of vegetable oils to sustain the export of kernel products. Economically and health wise whether it is worth should draw the attention of the government and others concerned.

There is a more important aspect to it. In Sri Lanka coconut is important as a source to meet the daily requirement of nutrients particularly of the lower income groups. The study done in 2002 by the Department of Census and Statistics reveals that out of the daily requirement of the nutrients needed by the Sri Lankans 15%calories,5% of protein and 70% of fat are derived from the source of coconut.

“Dr. Mary G. Enig, a nutritionist/biochemist of international renown for her research on the nutritional aspects of fats and oil addressing the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community 36th annual session had the following to say.

“Recently published research has shown that natural coconut fat in the diet leads to a normalization of body lipids, protects against alcohol damage to the liver ,and improves the immune system’s anti-inflammatory response .Clearly there has been increasing recognition of health supporting functions of the fatty acids found in coconut. Now it can be recognized for another kind of functionality: the improvement of the health of mankind.” This was in 1999.

In 2006 ,Conrado S. Dayritt Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology ,College of Medicine ,University of the Philippines at the technical meeting of the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community stated that “the chemical properties and biologic actions that make coconut oil superior to other oils for cooking and health use ,viz chemical nature and stability ,absorbability, metabolism, physiologic, and pharmacologic actions, antimicrobial, immune-regulatory and anti-inflammatory.”

In this context, is it in the interest of the health of the people of Sri Lanka that we should continue to use imported vegetable oils in large quantities and barter a time tested precious, healthy oil for the sake of some additional dollars?

Our slogan should be increase the production and productivity of coconut, increase the domestic consumption of coconut and increase the coconut exports.

(From String of Archaeological sites in the East coast and other articles by Dr.P.G.Punchihewa Former Secretary Ministry of Coconut Industries and former Executive Director Asian and Pacific Coconut Community Jakarta.)