7.1 Origin and History
The origin of coconut is believed to be as old as 80 million years which could be due
to the landmass of the Southern Hemisphere, Gondwana. The displacement of
earth’s tectonic plates moved the land surfaces which comprise Australia, North
and northeast New Zealand, Madagascar, Africa, Southern America, and South
Asian countries especially India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Humans started using
this extraordinary fruit half a million years ago even though the exact time of first use
is still unknown. About 4000 years ago, colonizing mariners began moving eastwards from the coast of Southeast Asia to the islands of the South Pacific, extending
10,000 km from New Guinea to Tahiti and also to southern India and Sri Lanka.
More than 2000 years ago, the traders carried coconut from islands on their journey
towards home islands which comprises Indonesia in the present era. Coconut’s
voyage towards the Indian Ocean to Madagascar and then to East Africa is assumed
to be started by the people of Borneo.
If we talk about recent times, in 1498, Portuguese mariners, starting with Vasco
da Gama, took the coconut from India and East Africa to the tropical eastern
Atlantic. Westwards, coconuts were food and drink sources on slave trading ships
traveling to Cuba and other islands. Eastwards, they were spread from the Cape
Verde Islands to the coast of West Africa, from Senegal to Angola. Before these
interesting events, West African people were using local forest palm oil as a food
ingredient. Its easy planting and management got it dispersed in Caribbean islands.
Before coconuts were discovered by European mariners, they were already growing
on coasts of Pacific and nearby islands. With the completion of the planting of
coconut palm in the Caribbean in the sixteenth century, its journey towards the globe
was completed. This makes it the most widespread and widely used palm in the
world. Modern coconut palm shows diversity in its size, shape, and appearance. The
coconut fruit color ranges from dark to light brown to light dark green, orange, and
yellow. Humans selected this ancestral fruit for pleasure and profit. It has been
selected due to its attractive color and thinner husk and for increased nut diameter.
7.2 Production
Coconuts grow into a palm under suitable conditions and start fruiting after 3 years.
On the ancient palm, the fruits are usually in a bunch and the bunch may contain up
to 12 nuts at a time. The dried kernel of coconut is called copra which is used for the
production of coconut oil. Asia, Central and South America, and the Pacific islands
are the leaders in coconut production as they share 97.3% of the global coconut
production. India is the leader in coconut production with 24.4 million coconut units
per year followed by Indonesia and the Philippines. In 2013, the global coconut
production was estimated to be 73.81 million coconuts or 2,896,709 MT of copra
equivalent (Chan 2016).
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P. T. Parmar et al.
The origin of coconut is believed to be as old as 80 million years which could be due
to the landmass of the Southern Hemisphere, Gondwana. The displacement of
earth’s tectonic plates moved the land surfaces which comprise Australia, North
and northeast New Zealand, Madagascar, Africa, Southern America, and South
Asian countries especially India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Humans started using
this extraordinary fruit half a million years ago even though the exact time of first use
is still unknown. About 4000 years ago, colonizing mariners began moving eastwards from the coast of Southeast Asia to the islands of the South Pacific, extending
10,000 km from New Guinea to Tahiti and also to southern India and Sri Lanka.
More than 2000 years ago, the traders carried coconut from islands on their journey
towards home islands which comprises Indonesia in the present era. Coconut’s
voyage towards the Indian Ocean to Madagascar and then to East Africa is assumed
to be started by the people of Borneo.
If we talk about recent times, in 1498, Portuguese mariners, starting with Vasco
da Gama, took the coconut from India and East Africa to the tropical eastern
Atlantic. Westwards, coconuts were food and drink sources on slave trading ships
traveling to Cuba and other islands. Eastwards, they were spread from the Cape
Verde Islands to the coast of West Africa, from Senegal to Angola. Before these
interesting events, West African people were using local forest palm oil as a food
ingredient. Its easy planting and management got it dispersed in Caribbean islands.
Before coconuts were discovered by European mariners, they were already growing
on coasts of Pacific and nearby islands. With the completion of the planting of
coconut palm in the Caribbean in the sixteenth century, its journey towards the globe
was completed. This makes it the most widespread and widely used palm in the
world. Modern coconut palm shows diversity in its size, shape, and appearance. The
coconut fruit color ranges from dark to light brown to light dark green, orange, and
yellow. Humans selected this ancestral fruit for pleasure and profit. It has been
selected due to its attractive color and thinner husk and for increased nut diameter.
7.2 Production
Coconuts grow into a palm under suitable conditions and start fruiting after 3 years.
On the ancient palm, the fruits are usually in a bunch and the bunch may contain up
to 12 nuts at a time. The dried kernel of coconut is called copra which is used for the
production of coconut oil. Asia, Central and South America, and the Pacific islands
are the leaders in coconut production as they share 97.3% of the global coconut
production. India is the leader in coconut production with 24.4 million coconut units
per year followed by Indonesia and the Philippines. In 2013, the global coconut
production was estimated to be 73.81 million coconuts or 2,896,709 MT of copra
equivalent (Chan 2016).
164
P. T. Parmar et al.