Dept of Agriculture Development 
SFAC KeralaCoconut requires an equatorial climate with high humidity.The ideal mean annual temperature is 27 degre centigrade with 5-7 degree diurnal variation.The palm does not withstand prolonged spells of extreme variations. A well distributed rainfall of 1300-2300 mm per annum is preferred. It tolerates salinity and a wide range of pH.
Planting the seedlings during May with the onset of pre-monsoon rains is ideal.Under assured irrigation, planting can be done during April also. In low-lying areas plant the seedlings in September after the cessation of heavy rains.
Remove seed nuts, which donot germinate with in 6 month after sowing as well as those will dead sprouts. Select only good quality seedlings (9-12 months old) by a rigorous selection based on the following characteristics.
1.Early germination, rapid growth, and seedling vigour
2.Six to eight leaves for 10-12 months old seedlings and at least four leaves for 9 month old seedlings.
3.Collar girth of 10-12 cm
4.Early splitting of leaves
Selection of mother palms
1.Regular bearing habits and yielding not less than 80 nuts/annum
2.Age 20 years or more (5 years after reaching full bearing capacity)
3.More than 30 fully opened leaves with short strong petioles and wide leaf base firmly attached to the stem.
4.Bearing atleast 12 bunches of nuts with strong bunch stalks
5.Bearing nuts of medium size and oblong shapes
6.Mean copra content of 150g per nut or more
Collection and storage of seed nuts
Collect mature nuts (above 11 month old) during the period from December to May. Lowering of bunches by means of ropes may be done when the palms are tall and ground is hard.Store seeds in shade for minimum period of 60 days prior to sowing in nursery.
The size of pits for planting would depend upon soil type and water table.In loamy soils with low water table,pit size of 1m*1m*1m is recommended.In laterite soils with underlying rock, take larger pts of size 1.2mx1.2mx1.2m .In sandy soils, the size of pits may be 0.75mx0.75mx0.75m.The pits may be filled upwith top soil to a height of 60 cm below the ground level .In low lying lands,take shallow pits nad, as the plant grows,raise the ground level by adding silt and sand so as to cover the entire bole of palm.The same procedure can be adopted when planting is done on mounds or bunds,burial of two layers of husk in the pit will be useful for moisture conservation. The husk is to be buried in layers with concave surface facing upwars.
In lateritic areas common salt at 2Kg per pit may be applied on the pit to improve soil conditions.Common salt is to be applied 6 months prior to planting
നട്ട് ആദ്യത്തെ രണ്ടു വര്‍ഷം വേനല്‍ക്കാലത്ത് നനയ്ക്കണം .തൈ കാറ്റില്‍ ഉലയാതെ കുറ്റിയില്‍ കെട്ടി നിര്‍ത്തുക. കളകള്‍ നീക്കിയും കുഴിയിലേക്ക് ഒലിച്ചിറങ്ങുന്ന മണ്ണ്‍ നീക്കിയും ഇടയ്കിടെ കുഴികള്‍ വൃത്തിയാക്കിയിടണം. തൈകള്‍ വളരുന്നതനുസരിച്ച് തൈക്കുഴിയുടെ വിസ്താരം വര്‍ദ്ധിപ്പിക്കേണ്ടതാണ്‌. കുഴിയുടെ ഉള്‍ഭാഗം അരിഞ്ഞിറക്കി ഭാഗികമായി മുടണം . ഇങ്ങനെ ചെയ്യുന്നതുകൊണ്ട് കുഴിയുടെ ആഴം കുറയുകയും തൈകള്‍ വളരുന്നതോടെ കുഴിയ്ക്ക് വലിപ്പം കൂടി നാലഞ്ച് വര്‍ഷം കൊണ്ട് തെങ്ങിനാവശ്യമായ തടം ആയിത്തീരുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു.
Fertilizer recommendation for coconut
Under irrigated conditions, apply fertilizers in three or four equal doses in April-May, August-September, December and February-March.
Apply lime or dolomite during April-May, magnesium sulphate during August-September and organic matter during June-July. For an adult palm 1 kg dolomite or 1 kg lime + 0.5 kg MgSO4 is required per annum.
Under irrigated conditions, fertilizers can be applied in 3-4 equal split doses.
Coconut is found to response well to irrigation. The yield in irrigated gardens are found to be double that of un-irrigated fields. Therefore, adopting a good irrigation management strategy will definitely increase yield from coconut gardens. Depending upon the availability of water and resources, different methods of irrigation can be adopted. In areas where water is available in plenty, we can go for basin irrigation. And in areas where the water table is a few meters below ground level ridges and furrow method of irrigation can be adopted. Drip irrigation is yet another method of irrigation. In this method the savings made in water is almost 80 per cent.
Basin irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation
Drip irrigation
Drip irrigation is ideally suited for widely spaced crops like coconut as it saves water, energy and labour and the Water Use Efficiency is high. Yield of coconut with drip irrigation@30 litres per palm per day during January to May was comparable to basin irrigation @ 600 litres per palm per week. Thus, there is 67 per cent saving of water in drip irrigation. Experiment conducted at CPCRI revealed that irrigation at 66 per cent of open pan evaporation is sufficient to produce yield on par with irrigation at 100 per cent of open pan evaporation.
Deciding harvest time
Twelve months old nuts are harvested for seed as well as copra making. However, for tender nut purposes 7 to 8 months old nuts are harvested. In case of tall the nuts harvested for seed purpose can be stored for 2 to 3 months period before sowing, whereas in case of dwarfs and hybrids, nuts should be sown with in a period of 10 –15 days of harvest.
In practice, the harvesting cycle varies from 45 to 60 or 90-day periods. However, considering the hired labour cost, the recommended harvesting cycle is every 45 days for practical and economic reasons. Two to three bunches of coconuts could be harvested from each palm if this cycle is followed. This harvesting cycle has been found to yield a good number of mature nuts with high copra and oil recovery.
Coconut shell as it is used for antiques, i.e preparation of various attractive articles. It is also used for making activated charcoal. The shell flour of 300 mesh made of coconut shell has a variety of uses in the organic industries.
Apart from the Kernel, coconut water and shell, the trunk of mature palm is used for houses in coconut growing areas and woven into baskets.
