• The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera Linn., with its tall, slender and uniformly thick stem and massive crown with large number of leaves, bearing bunches of nuts in their axils is one of the most beautiful and useful trees in the world.
• It perhaps yields more products of use to mankind than any other tree.
• The coconut palm, supposed to be one of the five legendry 'Deva Vrikshas' has been eulogised as 'Kalpa Vriksha' the all giving tree - in the classics of India.
• All parts of the palm are useful in someway or the other in the day to day life of the people of the west coast, the traditional coconut growing area. Its fruit is called 'Lakshmi phal' and is used on social and religious functions in India irrespective of whether the palm is locally grown or not.
• The palm, which is generally believed to belong to the Indian Archipelago, is now found to be growing prolifically in the tropical region especially in Malaya, the Eastern Archipelago, the islands of the West and Central Pacific Ocean, Sri Lanka and the coastal tracts of India.
• In puranas it is said "the coconut was brought to India from Nagaloka.While according to certain traditions, the coconut is said to have been introduced into India from Sri Lanka.
• It's great antiquity in India, is also evident from the fact that the part of the Malabar Coast, extending from South Kanara to Cape Comorin, is known as Keralam meaning the land of coconut, and the coconut industry is intimately associated with the rural life and occupation of the people of the Malabar Coast.
• The importance of the palm lies in the fact that not only does it supply food, drink and shelter, but it also provides raw material for a number of important industries.
• Coconut is a crop of small and marginal farmers since 98 per cent of about five million coconut holdings in the country are less than two hectares in extent.
• In the West coast of India the palm is an essential component in the homestead system of farming.
• Coconut is grown as a rainfed crop in the East and West coast and as an irrigated crop in most of the new areas. Coconut is the perennial crop which helps the farmer even if the monsoon fails.
• Coconut has a feature of yielding at monthly intervals all through its life of about 80 years.
• Coconut industry is intimately connected with the economic and domestic life of the inhabitants of the coconut growing countries. It provides employment and perhaps the only source of livelihood to tens of thousands of people.
• The importance of coconut as a source of food is indeed overwhelming, though because of its commonplace nature it is often forgotten.
• In India, coconut is consumed in the form of tender nuts, raw kernel, copra, coconut oil and desiccated coconut.
• In pacific Islands, coconut is everything for the inhabitants. This extreme dependence has been put succintly by Pieris (1954), thus; "Human life would become intolerable if there were no coconut palms.
• Coconut is widely cultivated in many countries viz., India, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Srilanka, Vietnam, Pacific Islands, Carribean Islands (Ivory coast) West Africa, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Brazil etc.,
• All coconut cultivating countries derive substantial revenue from coconut Industry.

• The wide dispersal of coconut palm, its antiquity in most regions of the tropics, conflicting views on its origin presented by research workers and the lack of convincing and conclusive evidence in support of its origin in a particular region, has rendered the task of describing the origin and distribution very difficult.
• There are three theories prevalent regarding the origin and distribution of coconut.
• The palm came from the stock which gave rise to other American members of the genus Cocos and originated in the northern end of the Andes in Tropical America from where it was taken into the Pacific place of origin on the coasts of Central America.
• The equatorial currents of the sea transported it to the Pacific Islands.
• It is supposed to have originated in South Asia or in the Pacific from where it reached America.
• The place of origin of the coconut is a mystery, but it was undoubtedly a native of some part of the old world tropics.
• The notable areas in the Indian Ocean include tropical Africa, India, Sri Lanka and the prehistoric area now under the seas in the Western part of the Indian Ocean.
• The claims of these areas may now be considered in light of the following information:.
• According to Mayuranathan, the Arabs from very early times called it an Indian fruit.
• Considerable historical evidences is available to prove the antiquity of coconut in India.
• According to Mayuranathan, Cosmos writing about coconut in the sixth century, described it under its Sanskrit name.
• He also pointed out that John Monte Carvino and Marco Polo in the thirteenth century considered it an Indian fruit. He cited instances of reference to the coconut in post-vedic works, viz., Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vishnu, Matsya, Markhandeya and Brahmanda Puranas.
• He cited reference to it in the ancient Tamil work Purananutruppadai and post-vedic works like the Tantras where it had been referred to as a favourite of Lord Shiva.
• He mentioned instances of worship in India to Varuna, the Lord of the Seas, represented by a pot of water with a coconut placed over it.
• Offering of the coconut to the seas in worship on the coconut day (Narial Poornami day) is still a popular event with the inhabitants of the Konkan Coast. Menon (1933) pointed out a popular belief that the coconut represented Deva Vriksha or 'Tree of Heaven', brought down by Lord Parasurama for the prosperity of the people of Malabar Coast.
• This strip of land is known as "Kerala" which literally means the land of the coconut
• While its antiquity in India is fairly well established, its origin in India remained disputed for many reasons. Although most of the post-vedic works contained references to the coconut, the Vedas - the oldest work of the Hindus- did not.
• This indicated a later introduction possibly in the post-vedic period. Apart from this, its possible introduction into India by oceanic currents in the monsoon drift from Malaysia cannot altogether be ruled out.
• Its later origin in India is supported by the fact pointed out by Bartlett (1927) that among the names of the coconut in Malaya, those of Sanskritic derivation were of a later origin than others already prevalent there.
• This would indicate that the coconut was introduced into India, during the post-vedic period and that in spite of the discovery of fossil Cocos species in Rajasthan (Kaul, 1951), India cannot be considered as the original home of the coconut.
• According to Purseglove, the centre of origin of cocoid palms most closely related to coconut is in northwestern South America.
• At the time of discovery of the New World, Coconuts, were confined to limited areas on the Pacific coast of Central America, and absent from the atlantic shores of the Americas and Africa. Coconuts that drifted as far north as Norway are still capable of germination.
• The wide distribution of coconut has no doubt been aided by man and marine currents.

• World production of coconut during the year 2012 is estimated at 60048837 metric tonnes from an area of about 12114141 hectares.
• Nearly three fourth (73.3%) of the world production is from India, Indonesia and Philippines. Sri Lanka with about 4.97% of the production occupies fourth position.
• (Table 1).

World coconut area, production and productivity in 2012

• India ranks second in production and productivity of coconut in the world with an estimated production of 2132240 mt from an area of 10560000 ha.
• The major coconut growing state in the country is Kerala and it is followed by Andhra Pradesh. The crop is grown in 17 states and 3 Union Territories in India
• Out of the estimated total production of coconut in the country approximately 48% is used for edible purposes, 31% for production of milling copra which is crushed for extraction of oil, 8% for conversion into ball copra, 11% for tender coconut and the remaining for the manufacture of non-traditional products, cultural and social purposes.

• Coconut industry in the country at present is on a revival path for product diversification and value addition.
• Till 1980s, technology development for product diversification and value addition was not given adequate attention in tune with the increases in production and productivity.
• With the formation of the coconut Development Board in early eighties technological research is treated as a priority area and development of appropriate processing technologies in coconut industry is a priority area of development.
• Due to this, diversified coconut products emerged into the market which in turn paved the way for better utilisation of various parts of coconut palm.
• Broadly, the coconut industry can be grouped into two major categories viz., traditional and non-traditional. Till recently, copra making, oil extraction from copra and coir industry have been the major traditional coconut based industries in the country.
• Desiccated coconut is also a traditional product in the country, even though the total annual production is only around 30,000 tonnes per year. It is even relevant to-day and hence it is quite pertinent to make an in-depth study on the traditional industries and to deliberate on their present status and future prospects.
• Under the product diversification programme, the Coconut Development Board initiated and developed a few technologies for the production and commercialisation of some of the non-traditional products during Nineties.
• The technology for preservation and packaging of tender coconut water, coconut cream, coconut cream powder, natural vinegar from coconut water, nata-de-coco etc. is ready for transfer.
• These technologies developed by the Board were transferred to some entrepreneurs for commercial production, and the products are being introduced and promoted in the domestic market.

• During Independence, India, ranked third in the world with a production of 13 billion nuts.
• The palm is cultivated mainly in the coastal tracts in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Pondicherry, Maharashtra and in the Islands of Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar.

• After the establsihment of 'Coconut Development Board (CDB)' coconut cultivation has been introduced to suitable locations in non-traditional states like Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachalapradesh etc., and today India ranks first in the world both in production and productivity.
• In Tamil Nadu, coconut is widely cultivated in all districts except The Nilgiris. Among the districts, Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Kanyakumari and Erode are the major coconut growing districts in Tamil Nadu. The area, production and productivity data is given below.

• The average productivity of coconut in the country is 6337 nuts per hectare. Among the four major coconut growing states West Bengal has the highest productivity (12968 nuts/ha). Maharashtra is having a productivity of 11018 nuts/ha, Andhra pradesh 11003 nuts/ha and followed by Tamilnadu 8270nuts/ha in 2002-03.

• Having originated at some place in South East Asia, coconut appears to have moved eastwards towards the Pacific and further into America.
• Towards the West it moved to India and Madagascar over the calm tropical waters.
• Although it is often referred to as 'ocean-going' nut due to its capacity to float and to germinate even after floating in sea water for 110 days, the possibility of its dispersal through the agency of water alone looks altogether improbable.
• The seed-nuts in salt water lose their viability after several days, due to infiltration of salt water into the husk.
• Therefore, the agency of man must also have been responsible to a large extent in its introduction and spread
• Spaniards introduced it into the West Indies and in the southern shores of the Caribbean Sea.
• The Portuguese introduced in into Bahia and other parts of Brazil Polynesian seafarers spread it to the different islands of the Pacific, the Arabs disseminated it to the African coast and the Tamils together with the mariners of the Bengal coast distributed it into the lands of the Indian Ocean.

• Coconut occupies a prominent position as an oil producing crop in our country.
• Coconut cultivation is on the increase every year in the Southern States though there are no perennial rivers and the agriculture is dependent mostly on the monsoon rains.
• Coconut is the perennial crop which helps the farmer even if the monsoon fails.
• There is a good demand for the Tall, T x D and D x T coconut seedlings which are produced with assistance from the Central and State Governments and the Coconut Development Board to increase the area and production of coconut.
• The area under coconut in Tamil Nadu is4.3 lakhs hectares with a production record of 4515 Million nuts.
• The productivity of coconut in Tamil Nadu is 10484 nuts/ha.
• The Government of India has established the Coconut Development Board with the objective of increasing the area and production of coconut.
• Various programmes are being chalked out and implemented for promoting the production of coconut crop.
• "The Tamil Nadu Coconut Development Authority" has been established by the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to solve problems in production, development of value added products and to explore the export potentials.
• In addition to the subsidy ranging from 70 to 90% of the cost extended by the Central and State Governments for the supply of drip irrigation system to boost the production of coconut, a subsidy of Rs.6000/ha is provided to farmers for the expansion of area under coconut with assistance from Coconut Development Board.
• Coconut is a perennial crop, which is prone to the attack of several pests and diseases during its various stages.
• In Tamil Nadu during 1997-98 the incidence of the slug caterpillar in Erode district was noticed, which was effectively contained in coordination with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the Coconut Development Board, on a war footing basis, by adopting the control measures suggested by TNAU.
• Among diseases Thanjavur wilt is the major problem in Tamil Nadu particularly in Theni district.
• Coconut is being used as tender coconut and edible oil, in addition to production of various value added products.
• There are 5,567 coir units, 937 Coir marketing centres, 167 coconut oil production units, 2 desiccated coconut powder production units and one charcoal production centre in Tamil Nadu.
• In addition to the area expansion, the production of coconut has also increased through the programmes implemented by the State and the Centre jointly. When there is an increase in the production of coconut the farmers are put to hardship as they do not get the expected price for their produce.

• The annual contribution of the crop to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country is estimated at more than Rs.7,000 crores.
• It also earns Foreign Exchange to the tune of Rs.300 crores annually from the export of coir and coir products.
• More than 10 million people in the country depend on coconut culture, processing, marketing and other trade activities related to this crop.

• Coconut is one of the ten most useful trees in the world, providing food for millions of people, especially in the tropics.
• At any one time a coconut palm has 12 different crops of nuts on it, from opening flower to ripe nut.
• At the top of the tree is the growing point, a bundle of tightly packed, yellow-white, cabbage-like leaves, which, if damaged, causes the entire tree to die, but if the tree can be spared, this heart makes a tasty treat, a 'millionaire's salad'.
• Unopended flowers are protected by a sheath often used to fashion shoes, caps, even a kind of pressed helmet for soldiers.
• Opened flowers provide good honey for bees. A clump of unopened flowers may be bound tightly together, bent over and its tip bruised.Soon it begins to 'weep' a steady dripping of sweet juice, up to a gallon per day.
• It contains 16-30 mg ascorbic acid/100 g. The cloudy brown liquid is easily boiled down to a syrup, called coconut molasses, then crystalized into a rich dark sugar, almost exactly like maple sugar.
• Sometimes it is mixed with grated coconut for candy. Left standing, it ferments quickly into a beer with alcohol content up to 8%, called 'toddy' in India and Sri Lanka; 'tuba' in Philippines and Mexico; and 'tuwak' in Indonesia.
• After a few weeks, it becomes a vinegar. 'Arrack' is the product after distilling fermented 'toddy' and is a common spirituous liquor consumed in the East.
• The nut has a husk, which is a mass of packed fibers called coir, which can be woven into strong twine or rope, and is used for padding mattresses, upholstery and life-preservers.
• The fibre which is resistant to sea water is used for cables and rigging on ships, for making mats, rugs, bags, brooms, brushes, and olive oil filters in Italy and Greece; also used for fires and mosquito smudges. If the nut is allowed to germinate,the cavity fills and may be eaten like celery.
• Shell is hard and fine-grained and may be carved into all kinds of objects, such as drinking cups, drippers, scoops, smoking pipe bowls, and collecting cup for rubber latex. Charcoal is used for cooking fires, air filters, in gas masks, submarines, and cigarette tips.
• Shells are burnt as fuel for copra kilns or housefires. Coconut shell flour is used as filler in plastics industry. Cocout water is produced by a 5-month old nut. About 2 cups of crystal clear, cool, sweet (invert sugar and sucrose) liquid, so pure and sterile that during World War II, it was used in emergencies instead of sterile glucose solution, and put directly into patient's veins.
• Also contains growth substances, minerals, and vitamins. Boiled toddy, known as jaggery, mixed with lime makes a good cement. Nutmeat of immature coconuts is like custard in flavor and consistency, and is eaten or scraped and squeezed through cloth to yield a 'cream' or milk' used in various foods.
• Cooked with rice to make Panama's famous 'arroz con coco'; also cooked with taro leaves, and used in coffee as cream. Dried, dessicated, and shredded it is used in cakes, pies, candies, curries and sweets.
• When nuts are cut open and dried, meat becomes copra, which is processed for oil, rich in glycerine and used to make soaps, shampoos, shaving creams, toothpaste, lotions, lubricants, hydraulic fluid, paints, synthetic rubber, plastics, margarine, and in ice cream.
• In India, the Hindus make a vegetarian butter called 'ghee' from coconut oil; also used in infant formulas.
• When copra is heated, the clear oil separates out easily, and is made this way for home use in producing countries. It can be used in lamps. Cake residue used as cattle fodder, as it is rich in proteins and sugar; should not give more than 4-5 lbs/animal/day, as butter from milk will have a tallow flavour.
• As cake is deficient in calcium, it should be fed together with calcium-rich foods. Trunk wood used for building sheds and other semi-permanent buildings.
• Outer wood is close-grained, hard, and heavy, and when well seasoned has an attractive dark colored grain adaptable for carving, especially ornamentals, under the name of 'porcupine wood'. Coconut logs should not be used for fences, as decayed wood makes favourable breeding places for beetles.
• These beetle larve are sometimes eaten. Logs are used to make rafts. Sections of stem, after scooping out pith, are used as flumes or gutters for carrying water. Pith of stem contains starch which may be extracted and used as flour.
• Pitch from top of tree is sometimes pickled in coconut vinegar. Coconut leaves made into thin strips are woven into clothing, furnishings, screens, and walls of temporary buildings.
• Stiff midribs used to make cooking skewers, arrows, brooms, brushes, and fish traps. Leaf fibre used in India to make mats, slippers, and bags.
• Used to make short-lived torches. Coconut roots provide a dye, a mouthwash, a medicine for dysentery, and frayed roots make tooth-brushes; scorched roots are used as coffee substitute.
• Coconut palm is useful as an ornamental; its only drawback being the heavy nuts which may cause injury to man, beast, or rooftop when falling.

• According to Hartwell, coconuts are used in folk remedies for tumors.
• Reported to be anthelmintic, antiblenorrhagic, antibronchitic, antidotal, antigingivitic, antiseptic, aperient, aphrodisiac, astringent, bactericidal, depurative, diuretic, febrifuge, hemostat, pediculicide, purgative, refrigerant, stomachic, styptic, suppurative, and vermifuge, coconut, somewhere or other, is a folk remedy for abscesses, alopecia, amenorrhea, asthma, blenorrhagia, bronchitis, bruises, burns, cachexia, calculus, colds, constipation, cough, debility, dropsy, dysentery, dysmenorrhea, earache, erysipelas, fever, flu, gingivitis, gonorrhea, hematemesis, hemoptysis, jaundice, menorrhagia, nausea, phthisis, pregnancy, rash, scabies, scurvy, sorethroat, stomach, swelling, syphylis, toothache, tuberculosis, tumors, typhoid, venereal diseases, and wounds.