Indonesia’s One Million Coconut Trees Program Sees 100% Growth

President Joko Widodo’s program promoting the planting of one million early bearing coconuts across Indonesia has yielded good results, with 100 percent growth, reports the Antara news Jakarta on October 15.  In a statement received during the day, director general of plantations at the Agriculture Ministry, Andi Nur Alam Syah, said that the planting of early bearing coconuts in Solo Raya, Central Java, was part of the food security program as well as efforts to increase people’s income.

Under the program, the ministry is aiming to plant one million early bearing coconuts in 2022-2023 period by allocating assistance for seeds for growing 110 thousand early maturing coconut trees to Sukoharjo Regency, 58 thousand trees to Boyolali, and 59 thousand trees to Karanganyar.  The seed assistance was provided during the declaration of the “One Million Stem Early Coconut Planting” by President Widodo last August. Syah said that Solo Raya, especially Sukoharjo has been selected as a model for other regions.  Coconut oil is processed in the area as well as coconut palm sugar

Some of the early bearing coconut varieties chosen for the program include entog, yellow nias, yellow bali, Genjah pandanus fragrant and kopyor. All varieties can start harvesting on the fourth year after planting. The entog variety, the report said, has the potential for bearing 95 fruits per tree per year, with number of fruits per bunch ranging from 6 to 7.  The sweetness of the fruit juice is 6 percent Brix, the weigh of the fruit flesh is 437 grams.  

The yellow nias variety produces 60-120 fruits per tree per year, the weight of the fruit flesh at 159 grams, with oil content at 62 percent.  The yellow bali variety has potential productivity of 60-110 fruits per tree per year, fruit flesh weighing 177 grams and oil content of about 61 percent. On the other hand, the juice of the Genjah pandanus coconut variety has a sweetness of 6.25 percent brix. The fruit water is aromatic and tasty, and the young fruit flesh has a pandan-like fragrance and taste.  It has a productivity of 151 fruits per tree per year.