Some years after the government began spreading high-yielding dwarf Vietnamese coconut varieties, the picture in the field is mixed. Where scientific care and enough water have been provided, yields are good; farmers who planted seedlings the traditional way and left them have been disappointed and have lost money.
Under the agriculture ministry's year-round fruit production project, seedlings of two dwarf varieties, Siam Green and Siam Blue, were imported from Vietnam and distributed to districts through horticulture centres. Fruiting within three to three-and-a-half years, easy picking from short trees and sweet green coconuts with plenty of water made the varieties popular with farmers.
Trial trees of Siam Green, Siam Blue and the DG hybrid from India, planted at Chandrima Udyan beside the parliament building in Dhaka, have yielded well. Planted three-and-a-half years ago, each tree has borne an average of 50 to 60 green coconuts, with a maximum of 58 counted on one tree.
Laboratory and field analysis found each green coconut weighs about 1.5 to 1.75 kg. Whereas one yields 250 to 350 ml of water in Vietnam, in Bangladesh's soil each gives 550 to 650 ml, and the sweetness (Brix) of the water was found to be higher than normal.
The varieties' potential is proven, but it depends on care: the report's central message is that without proper management and regular irrigation, planting seedlings alone will not bring a profit.
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Source: Dinajpur TV
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