Performance Of Coconut Hybrids And Commercial Hybrid Seednut Production
Coconut cultivation for commercial purposes in United Plantations Berhad (UPB ) began in 1912. Since then, the Research Department through its research and collaborative initiatives has end eavored to improve productivity through the development of various coconut hybrids. PB 121, locally called MAWA (Malayan Dwarf x W est Africa n Tall) was introduced for commercialisation in the mid - 1970’s. It was initially adopted to replace the tall coconuts in the coco a-coconut plantations but declining prices and infestation by the cocoa pod borer prompted conversion to plantings of alternative crops such as oil palm . How ever, United Plantations Berhad maintained its philosophy of crop diversification by retaining its existent coconut hectar ages with the Research Department tasked to improve productivity through the development of hybrids and seed nut production for upgrading and replanting. In the 1990's, MATAG (Malayan Dwarf x Tagnanan Tall) was introduced for commercial cultivation. Currently United Plantations Berhad with two coconut plantations totalling 3.000 hectares is the largest producer of coconuts in M alaysia, producing close to HOM nuts per year, equivalent to 20% of the country’s production . Severed other high yielding varieties are in the pipeline for commercialisation, including the dwarf hybrids for the tender drinking nut market, with yield potentials exceeding 35,000 nuts per hectare per year. The commercial seednut production field is confined to a block of 25 hectares and is operated by the Research Department with a maximum production capacity of 110,000 saleable hybrid seed nuts (4 months old). With escalation in costs of in puts and wages, the cost of seed nut production had risen to RM 30 per seed nut in 2014. How ever with good agricultural management practices complementing the superior hybrid planting materials, the production cost of a mature coconut from the plantations is RM 0.10, thus ensuring a sustained profitability' of the coconut plantations in United Plantations Berhad.