Strategies For Enhancing Productivity And Income Of Coconut Farmers In Indonesia
Indonesia is the largest coconut producer but the present status o f coconut industry is far from satisfactory in term of export earnings, level of productivity and farmers income. The low productivity of palms is attributed to high percentage of senile palms; low yielding varieties, non-fertilization of land and also pests and disease problem. Farmer’s income is low as farmers produce only copra or sell fresh nut while a few of them produce charcoal and traditional cooking oil. Most coconut industries are small scale, often lacking managerial and technological capabilities to compete internationally. The processing industry is dominated by coconut oil factories where there are 4,350 units of small and 40 medium and large factories. There are many technologies available but adoption by farmers is still low due to lack of technology dissemination and resources. There are also difficulties faced in Research and Development activities on coconut for lack of funds for transfer of technology and human resources. The paper provides few suggestions to revive the industry such as rejuvenation of old trees, replanting program, group level processing and adoption of integrated farming system.