05/01/2009 (The Hindu), Kochi - Coconut productivity should be enhanced and quality in supplies should be ensured, Coconut Development Board chairperson Minnie Mathew has said.

She was detailing the major points discussed at the recently concluded Asian Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) meet held in Sri Lanka.

Ms. Mathew pointed out that area under cultivation had been coming down at the rate of .03 per cent per for the last five years.

In 2008, the area declined by 0.2 per cent compared to the previous year. At the global level, the average world productivity per hectare was 0.86 tonne copra equivalent.

As the productivity is at a very low level, there should be concerted efforts to make coconut farming remunerative and sustainable in the long run, she said. The APCC session had reiterated the need for large-scale replanting and rejuvenation programmes in all member countries.

In 2008, the total volume of the nine major vegetable oils in the world market was 132.7 million tonnes. However, the share of coconut oil was only 3.21 million tonnes. Thus coconut oil is ranked eighth, just above olive oil which contributes 3.10 million tonnes to the total vegetable oil pool.

Palm oil production came to 42.73 million tonnes and it share was 2.31 per cent. It topped the list of vegetable oils. It is also noteworthy that palm kernel oil, which was a very minor player in 1960, with a production of only 4,21,000 tonnes, could move ahead of coconut and groundnut oil production.

Coconut oil thus faces tough competition from oils from soybean, palm, palm kernel, sunflower etc.

Reliability in supply should be ensured for coconut oil to emerge as a major player in the world vegetable oil market, she said.

The international price of coconut oil in the January-November 2008 period was $1,272 per tonne. This was 39 per cent higher than the price in 2007. But there is a steady decline in prices now, Ms. Mathew said.

Activated carbon, derived from coconut shell charcoal, is more competitive in the world market than activated carbon from other sources. India is a major suppliers of activated carbon derived from coconut shell in the world market. The total import demand for activated carbon had been increasing at the rate of 7.73 per cent per annum in the last five years. India can exploit this growing market by organising the collection of raw materials in a cost-effective manner, Ms. Mathew pointed out.