Production Of Quality Planting Materials : Hybrids, Selected Local Varieties And Synthetics Seeds In Community Managed Nurseries - A Strategy For Global Competitiveness
Coconut supply in the world market is lacking while farm yields are decreasing due to ageing trees, natural calamities and crop shifts, urbanization, and lack of attractiveness and profitability of the coconut to most poor people. With the increase of population in coconut producing countries, the land for coconut becomes even more limited as all the good lands will be used to plant food crops. The policy of Agriculture Minister of Indonesia to put the food security as the top priority results in marginalization of all non-food crops, including coconut. They would have to be relegated to the marginal soils and climates. Luckily, coconut can grow in coastal areas in which they can give the the highest yield. The sandy soil, favorable water regimes and temperature-buffering oceans arc favorable to coconut. Other problem in Indonesia is that there are about 30% of the total 3.8 million ha of coconut areas are senile. Hence a massive replanting is needed for the coastal areas. To do this, millions of seedlings are needed. Hybrids will not provide the answer as they are expensive and the multiplication factor is low. One hectare of hybrid seed farm can produce planting materials only for 50 hectares. As hybrid seed nut production is not considered profitable by the private sector, only governments with limited resources will be the producer of hybrids. A strategic breeding to produce massive numbers of planting materials for the coastal areas is urgently needed. In this paper will present the production of quality planting materials of selected local varieties, high yielding varieties of tall, synthetics seeds in community managed nurseries.