Coconuts are versatile fruits, edible yet practical. Coconut products provide food, shelter, energy, and can be made into many commercial and
industrial products. Coconut chips. Coconut cream.
Coconut oil. Coconut water. Coconut brushes. Coconut ice.Hey, you'd have to be a nut
not to love this nut.Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
CHANCES ARE that if
you live in the Caribbean you're already nuts about coconut.
After all, the coconut is not really a hard sell in these parts -- or many other places, for that matter.
In comic strips and in Hollywood, coconuts have played interesting roles in love stories about deserted islands and marooned men -- think back to last year's blockbuster, 'Cast Away'.
However, long before they starred on the big screen or made headlines (as they have done in recent times) as a hip, low calorie thirst-quencher, coconuts formed the backbone of the existence of hundreds of small farmers all across Jamaica. Many of them are still romancing the nut.
"Coconuts have helped many families to survive, and unlike the banana and the beef industries, the price has remained good so many are willing to stick through the tough times. The only problem is the disease plaguing us," says Dr. Richard Jones, managing director of the Fred M. Jones Estate and head of the Coconut Industry Board.
"I still love coconuts, I haven't been able to find another alternative suitable for marginal (hillside) lands as yet, so I still believe in coconuts, but the coconut is not romancing us right now," he added.
At the Fred M. Jones estate in Golden Grove, St. Thomas, coconut harvesting has fallen from a high of 60,000 trees per week to a mere 10,000 trees.
Still, "it is the best crop for rural Jamaica because you can underplant and it still gives you income for 12 months out of the year. Plus the prices that coconut water presently command in the marketplace are quite attractive," Dr. Jones said.
MORE THAN JUST A NUT
In days gone by, Jamaicans, particularly those living in rural parishes, used the shell (the coir) to polish their floors to a red military shine. We drink the water by the gallons, make brooms from the bough, burn the shell to make charcoal, squeeze oil from the dried nuts, stuff mattresses with discarded parts and feed animals from its trash.
For some coconut lovers, there is nothing as unreal as powdered coconut milk.
"It's like a crime for me to think of using anything but the real thing to make Jamaican rice and peas the way my granny used to make for traditional Sunday afternoon dinner," said Donna Williams, a self-proclaimed coconut-lover and sales representative.
Basil Been, Director of Research at the Coconut Industry Board, calls the coconut palm the tree of life.
"It is remarkable in the potential variety of its products and has substantial capacity for genetic improvement. Capable of growing in harsh environments
such as atolls, or under conditions of high salinity, drought or poor soils,
it plays a very important role in maintaining the long term stability of often fragile ecosystems."
He added: "The shell is a renewable source of energy. One can make simple kilns to make charcoal from the shell. One can make briquettes from bagasse, the same thing can be done from coconuts with the use of a machine."
Plus, one can make activated carbon (fine powder) from charcoal, which can be used to filter water in treatment plants, or other industrial purposes as an absorbent, he said.
Traditionally, the meat of the coconut was dried into copra, and the copra processed and the oil extracted traded internationally, and the trash into animal feed.
IF YOU LOOK AFTER THEM,
THEY LOOK AFTER YOU
These days coconuts are taking a severe husking. Worldwide, productivity has been falling and further threats include pests and diseases, repeated natural calamities, ageing of palms and genetic erosion.
Locally, the coconut industry is being plagued by attacks of the
dreaded Lethal Yellowing disease. "But farmers are anxious to replant because the coconut is the kind of
crop where if you look after it, it
looks after you, and although it might take between five to six years to get a mature crop, it is worth your while," Dr. Jones said.
Despite its ailments, those in the industry believe we're just poking at one eye of the coconut. Mr. Been believes that the "full use of the whole coconut is the key to re-establishing the long run viability of the industry."
Coconut water has been the lifeline for many farmers and manufacturers. There are presently 34 coconut water companies registered with the Bureau of Standards, and there are dozens of others that are not registered. It is the fastest expanding value added sector of the coconut industry.
Still, coconut water is barely the tip
of what this nut can do for Jamaica. "We don't use the shell much, but when you consider the potential of the coconut, we underutilize it. We need to move to the idea of an integrated processsing plant where the husk, shell, meat and the water are all used but it must be a set-up where the farmer shares in the profits generated from it." Further, said Mr. Been, the coir dust of the nut can be used to make coco-peat, a substitute for peat, especially since the mining for peat is frowned upon because of environmental concerns in temperate countries.
But there's more. The Board has enlisted the help of the United States' Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to create a mass of value added products and employment opportunities. Part of the FAO project, is to identify various cottage industries in the world of coconuts.
NOT A HARD NUT TO CRACK
There is already a small coconut shop at the Waterloo Road, Kingston, base of the Coconut Board, which is used as an outlet for small farmers selling traditional products like jackass corn, coconut cakes and gizzadas. Other nut-based products include coconut ice, which is the delightful sweet of sugar and desiccated coconut is a big hit locally; frozen coconut cream; coconut chips; coconut butter, which is a solid fat obtained from the flesh of the coconut and which is used in items like soap, candles and ointments; flour, made from dry coconuts, is used in the baking and the confectionery industry; mosquito destroyers made from the powder of the shell powder; vinegar, made from the water of the dried through the process of fermentation.
In addition, high-grade virgin oil
can be extracted from the meat by first grating and then drying the meat to a
12 per cent moisture level. The virgin oil fetches an attractive price in the
marketplace and is also used in aroma-therapy and spas.
In the manner of Ecclesiastes, there are shell products for every conceivable season or use, which can be fashioned out of coconut wood. There are spoon stands, vases, candle stands, nut bowls, saucers, napkin rings, ladles, tilters, spatulas, cutlery sets, spoons, forks, knives, incense stick stands and key rings, nut bowls, ashtrays, ladles, and dessertspoon.
"The coconut is a really remarkable product," Mr. Been said.
NUTS ABOUT YOU
Coconut palms are relatively hardy and have a 40- to 80-year life span. They produce their fruits monthly.
In Jamaica, there is an estimated 4.3 million palms growing on about 17,300 hectares. The Malayan Dwarf and Maypan are the main varieties of commerce.
Production for the year 2000 was estimated at 142.8 million nuts. Most of the crop is used as fresh nuts -- the young for drinking and mature for
cooking purposes.
HISTORY OF THE NUT IN JAMAICA
The coconut was introduced to Jamaica in the 16th century and
became an important plantation crop in the middle of the 18th century. In 1930, the Jamaica Producers Association was formed as a co-operative marketing organisation. It used its members' products to produce copra, and oil and beginning in 1937, soaps.
In 1940, legislation was enacted to protect the local industry from external competition and all small coconut processing factories were amalgamated into one company known as Soap and Edible Products Limited (SEPROD).
In 1945, the Coconut Industry Board was established to administer the industry. A research department was established in 1959 and a few years later, an Advisory Division.
HARD TIMES
Forty-eight per cent of coconut oil is lauric acid, which is the starting point for the manufacture of most detergents.
"But scientists have genetically engineered rape seed (canola oil) to produce lauric acid, so there is a lot of competition so there will be no increase in the price of coconut oil in the near future," said Mr. Been.
The Lethal Yellowing disease previously hit the industry in 1961 with devastating effect but was revived through the importation and planting of the highly resistant Malayan Dwarf variety.
The Coconut Industry Board has been doing research on pathology of the Lethal Yellowing disease using latest DNA techniques and has introduced new varieties of coconuts and screened them for resistance to disease.
"We're pleased with the resistant strains that we've developed, the programme is working well," Mr. Been said.
The CIB works closely with other international organisations, does research on tissue culture with Wye College, and grants subsidies to the cost of planted material to the farmer. After hurricanes, the CIB provides windstorm insurance that benefits the farmer, and has launched several rehab programmes over the years.
"Other Caribbean islands depend on us for resistant strains. There was a time when the US government allowed only Jamaican coconuts to enter the Florida market. We are always doing something," added Mr. Been.
