Evaluation and Utilization of Introduced Coconut Germplasm

Abstract

Coconut, Cocos nucifera L., is an important crop of the hot and humid tropics. In India, it is grown in an area of 18.4 lakh hectares with an annual production of 12,597 million nuts. The national productivity is about 6,846 nuts! ha and 39 nuts! palmi year, indicating the vast potential available for increasing the productivity in this crop. However, the improvement of plantation crops, in general, and coconut in particular is tedious and difficult because of the long gestation period, the heterozygosity, large area required for experimentation and the perennial nature of the crop. In spite of these limitations, the Central PlantationCrops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod (Kerala), has been involved in the.