Coconut Shedding Of Buttons And Nuts And Production Of Barren Nuts Introduction Production of Barren Nuts Setting in of Barrenness Shedding Due To Nutritional Defficiencies Shedding Due To Unfavourable Conditions Shedding Due to Defective Pollination Shedding Due To Formation Of Abscission Layer Control of Shedding of Buttons

Introduction The coconut is mainly a cross fertilized crop in which pollination is brought about through the agency of wind and insects. With this seemingly uncertain method of fertilization, a large number of female flowers in the inflorescence fail to be fertilized. Consequently, many of them do not develop into nuts and are eventually shed. In addition, nature provides a certain amount of safety to prevent exhaustion of the tree from over-bearing, affording the tree to maintain a balance between production and its inherent capacity. It might be for this reason that many of the female flowers or buttons are shed after fertilization and some of the nuts after setting, fall prematurely and a few other turn barren. The shedding of buttons and nuts in the coconut has been attributed to several widely separated causes, viz., pathological conditions, attack of insect pests, nutritional deficiencies, soil and climatic variations, defects in pollination and fertilization, structural defects in the flower, abortion of embryos, physiological condition of the tree at the time of shedding, the limited capacity of the tree to bear fruits, etc. Top Production Of Barren Nuts In The Coconut The phenomenon of the occurrence of barren nuts (nuts without or with imperfectly developed kernel) variously known as 'Seedless' or 'Imperfect' nuts is a familiar one met with in the coconut. Although this phenomenon is, perhaps, as ancient as the cultivation of the coconut, it had not received, until recently, the attention of research workers to the extent needed. Working on the above basis and considering the average acre production of coconuts, the prevailing wholesale price of the coconut and the estimated acreage under this crop in the Indian Union, they have estimated that an approximate net loss amounting to 105.15 million nuts worth 1.58 million rupees is caused by the phenomenon of barrenness. These reveal that in the existing coconut plantations certain trees produce a large number of barren nuts. The barren nuts have certain conspicuous morphological features. They are generally oblong in shape while the normal nuts of the same tree are roundish. Although the development of husk in these is generally complete, the quantity produced is very much less as compared with normal ones. The husk is many of these is traversed by longitudinal rossets of varying degrees at the place of fusion of carpels resembling a star in a cross section of the nut while in the normal nut this is generally full and invariably bulged out resembling a three-sided nut. Sometimes, the outline of the barren nut assumes an irregular shape. The embryo in the barren nut is mostly absent or when present, it is in varying stages of decay. Often, these nuts are seen with the shell and kernel improperly developed. Fungal infection is also, sometimes, seen infesting the embryo, resulting in the decay of the kernel and loss of water inside. The most common feature of the barren nut is the frequent splitting of the shell during the period of development. The barren nuts met with in the plantations could be tentatively grouped into five distinct types based on certain morphological features. Type 1 In this type of nuts the development of husk and shell is normal. The embryo is often absent and when present, is found either improperly developed or in various stages of decay. The development of kernel in these nuts is invariably incomplete, often uneven in thickness. Rare instances are met with where the kernel and water are both completely absent. Sometimes, however, the kernel is absent and the whole cavity is filled with sweet water. Type 2 In this type the development of the husk is normal. The development of shell is complete but it is generally found to be cracked at the base. The kernel is partially developed and rarely absent. The water inside is also absent. This formed one of the two common types of barren nuts met with in plantations. Type 3 This is a type similar to the above and forms one among two types of barren nuts commonly met with in plantations. The nut of this type show the cracks at the apical end of the nut. Type 4 In this type some parts of the nuts are either completely absent or rendered diminutive due to defective development. The development of husk is normal. The shell is very thick, hard, strong and very much reduced forming pigmy-sized nuts. The kernel is either completely absent or when partially developed, presents globular protuberances. Type 5 In this type some of the parts are improperly developed or absent. The development of husk is more or less normal. The shell is rudimentary, solid in form and linear in shape. Top Setting-In Of Barrenness Till about the fourth month, no marked differences are noticeable between a normal and a barren nut. It is possible to identify these nuts with some difficulty from the fourth month of development onwards, when they are observed lagging behind in external development. About the seventh month, the signs of barrenness become more conspicuous. At this stage, these nuts are generally identified from the normal ones by their peculiar colour, irregular shape and their reduced size and lighter weight. This phenomenon had attracted in the past very little attention. This phenomenon is due to defective fertilisation resulting in seeds destitute of embryo. Preliminary trials undertaken at the Central Coconut Research Station, Kasaragod revealed that barrenness could be induced by keeping female flowers unfertlised indicating thereby that defective fertilisation may be one of the possible causes of barren nut production. Nutritional deficiency in the palm is also considered to be another cause attributed to the incidence of barrenness. There is also a popular belief that application of common salt reduces the production of barren nuts. Increased production in the palm is also believed by some to be yet another possible cause for the production of barren nuts. The incidence of barren nuts could be checked by submitting these trees to tapping them for the juice. Premature nut-fall The fall of immature nuts at a later stage of development of the nut, often causes considerable loss of crop. It occurs particularly when the fruits are almost fully grown but before the kernel or 'meat' has begun to form. The details of the causes for the occurrence of this phenomenon have been discussed elsewhere. Top Shedding Due To Nutritional Deficiencies In recent years, nutritional deficiency in the soil has been considered to be another factor responsible for the shedding of buttons. In both the temperate and tropical countries, the application of nitrogenous manures has often been found to increase yield. The insufficient nourishment of the roots which was remedied by the application of nitrogenous manures. Shedding of buttons is an outcome of weakness of the bunch stalk and want to mechanical strength in the tissue. Top Shedding Caused By Unfavourable Conditions Shedding of buttons occurred not only when there was deficit of moisture but also during the wettest times of the year. The shedding of buttons was very high during August, September and November and slightly lower during other months. Shedding of nuts especially after unusually prolonged period of drought and particularly after the onset of the first rains. Shedding of buttons was more severe on heavy soils than lighter soils. Top Shedding As A Result Of Defective Pollination Imperfect pollination or the lack of pollination as a prima facie cause of shedding in the coconuts. This was due to the fact that at the time of shedding, the tissues at the base of the button and along the central canal undergo considerable decay. It was, therefore, suggested that an indirect evidence on this point might be obtained by artificially pollinating all the female flowers of an inflorescence and by bagging another inflorescence and thus preventing pollination. Unfertilised buttons shed comparatively sooner. The fall of buttons was found to be due to the failure of fertilisation caused by the abortion of carpels in the female flowers. This shedding was also attributed to the incapacity of the micropylar canal to enlarge due to insufficient nourishment and lack of sufficient moisture in the tissues of the flower, resulting in the failure of the pollen tube to grow and reach the ovule. Top Abscission, A Possible Cause For Shedding Of Buttons The water relationship between the fruit and the plant is of importance in the study of the phenomenon of fruit fall. Soil moisture was an important factor in the setting of fruits and conservation of soil moisture could possibly reduce shedding of fruits. As the increase in shedding of buttons followed a period of drought, it was felt that the formation of abscission layer at the place of attachment to the stalk, may perhaps, cause shedding as a result of severe drought. Coconut being a monocotyledonous crop is devoid of cambium and the occurrence of abscission layer was, therefore hardly conceivable. Recent successes in grafting of monocotyledonous plants like paddy and sugarcane which were also devoid of cambium, however, proved that in the absence of cambium, in these crops, certain meristematic tissues notably the intercalary meristems could perform the functions of the cambium. Top Control Of Shedding Of Buttons In coconut, considerable loss in yield had been observed to result from this phenomenon of shedding of buttons. It varied from 55 to 95 per cent depending on conditions prevailing, and on the variety of the coconut. The loss occurring due to this phenomenon on a plantation scale has to be about three-fourths of the number of female flowers produced by the tree. The shedding of buttons is comparatively heavier in the dwarf palms than in the tall ones and higher percentage of setting in trees included under the group of heavy and medium bearers than those which are poor bearers and trees having a good number of female flowers have the lowest setting percentage while this was fairly high in the medium and poor groups. Most of the buttons were shed during the first two months after fertilisation of flowers. The correct stage for commencement of spraying on flowers is after competition of fertilisation, judged from blackening or browning of the apex of the button. After two months, the bunch is judiciously thinned by cutting away the nuts that are observed to lag behind in general development and those that are found crowded in the bunch, thus providing sufficient space for development of the remaining nuts. Top

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