Increased demand for desiccated coconut

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

Sri Lanka's desiccated coconut is the best in the world and due to people cutting down trees in urban areas for housing and industry the country is in grave danger of losing this position.

With the dawn of peace Sri Lanka once again has access to thousands of acres of barron land in the North and East provinces which can be utilized for planting coconuts, Mahaweli Coconut Plantation Limited Chairman Sunil Watawala said.

He said the growers are now facing the best era as they are getting all time record prices for both their coconut as well as copra.

Mahaweli Coconut Plantation Limited Chairman Sunil Watawala

"This is because the demand for desiccated coconut has increased in the world market due to the high demand for cake, biscuit, ice cream and other confectionery products. ``This trend is expected to continue," he predicted.

Watawala said that they are thankful to the government for providing the fertilizer subsidy which has pushed the industry forward. "The industry stake holders have been making this appeal from successful governments but only this government heeded to our appeal and this is a step taken in the right direction. We hope and pray that this will continue," he said.

He however said there is also a problem as they are faced with a shortage of coconut seedlings needed for planting. ``There is a shortage and this is a serious problem that has to be addressed soon," he said.

Watawala who has his own D/C mill says that he obtained land from the Mahaweli area to grow Sri Lanka's largest private coconut estate in Bogaswewa, Aralaganwila in the Polonnaruwa district in 1998 during `violent' times.

"With the assistance of Israli's I also introduced drip irrigation to my plantation which was very successful," he said.

With the infrastructure in place by the Mahaweli Development Authority and an allocation of 5,000 acres of virgin forest land within their grasp, the early challenges were formidable in a dry zone area rainedfed once a year and a rigorous weather pattern ill-suited for the cultivation of coconut. However with the abundance of Mahaweli water to irrigate the project, the answer to efficient water management was drip irrigation. Thus in consultation with an Israel Company, which already had the technology in place, experts visited the project and introduced drip irrigation systems, the like of which is never seen anywhere in Sri Lanka.

The heart of the project is the Pump House and the pipe lines are the arteries that irrigate every single plant by a system of drip irrigation with manpower expertise and technology supplied by an Israel Company.

There are nine pump houses, one for each Division and 140 kilometers of drip lines. Water management is of a high order that every plant receives 28 litres of water per day supplied through four nozzles per plant dripping at regulated intervals.

At the parochial level the company has launched a village integration programme. "Take the estate to the village" is their concept and already 8,000 coconut seedlings in the nursery have been set apart for distribution among farmers at cost price.

As the project grows other programmes are to be developed to interact with the village community or their well being.

At the national level the company expects to provide the shortfall in coconuts to feed the coconut based Mills both for export and domestic markets, including an adequate supply of coconuts for domestic consumption.