Coconut farming plays a major role in the economy of some countries and about 86 countries produces coconut. But the three major producers of coconut are India, Indonesia and Philippine. The economy of India and her people depends so much on coconut farming.
It is a tropical plant that can grow under any climatic condition and soil type. Coconut palm is also known as the tree of heaven because of their various uses. Everything about the tree is useful to man, it has economic, medicinal and nutritional values.
Coconut seed is processed for oil which can be used in the production of margarine or for frying. The roots are used for tie and dye in textile industries and so on.
Nigeria is the 18th producers of coconut in the world and we are not even there yet. Because we are not utilizing the opportunities that lies in coconut farming.
There is need for us to create value chain for both local and International consumption especially now that the export market is growing by the day. It will go a long way in providing jobs to thousands of unemployed youths through its numerous sectors.
Nigeria can realise more than a billion dollar from coconut exportation if fully harnessed. We need more coconut Industries to support the few that are already existing. Lagos Coconut Industry can be given a boost with more Investment so that it can serve as a source of foreign investment to the Government.
USA Coconut Oil Production Market seems to be the largest market for coconut in the world.
More than 90% of the opportunities that lie in coconut farming is yet to be tapped. Our concentration is on oil palm farming which is not bad after all.
People can stand anywhere in Nigeria even on the road to purchase, drink coconut water and eat the young nuts. This should be an indication for investors and entrepreneurs that the best time to invest in coconut farming is now.
New technological approach for coconut cultivation been introduced that can help a farmer to succeed . In this post you will see the step by step guide to this new approach.
Coconut farming business
It is very important for you to write a business plan before starting any farming activity. Contact us, if you need coconut farming business plan.
LAND PREPARATION
The best soil for coconut farming is sandy-loam this is because it can hold and drain water. Choose a suitable site for this with respect to the number of years involved in the activities. It should be your personal land or a land you can lease for about 50 years or more.
If you are purchasing let it be outskirt of town (suburb) where you can buy land with low price. Make pathways in the land, clear grasses, remove shrubs and trees. Plough and harrow the land for easy operation.
Further prepare the land by digging holes of 1m × 1m. Mixed the top soil with animal dung such as poultry, pig, cow, goat dung etc. or compost manure. Fill the hole to about 50cm – 60cm. Treat the soil with chemical for any trace of termites or any other pesticide.
PLANTING
- Transplant coconut seedlings after a year from the nursery or when they show a minimum of 5-6 leaves and a girth of 10cm at the collar level. Early splitting of leaves is a good sign that the seedling is good.
- Coconut seedlings has nuts attached to it in fact that is the same nuts they grow from. Put it in the hole like that, it is the reason 40cm-50cm space was left out from being filled in the hole. Fill it up now with the remaining soil you mixed with dung and press or level the soil well to prevent waterlog farm. Planting should start during the early rains (April-May).
- Use square planting just like oil palm farming; if you want to learn how to cultivate oil palm, click here. 7.5m × 7.5m is the ideal spacing for coconut farming. However you can choose any spacing that favours you. 7.5m will accommodate 178 seedlings in a hectare. Other spacing to use are 10cm × 10cm, 8cm × 7cm etc.
- Provide shade for the transplanted seedlings in other to prevent lost of moisture at the early stage. Also stake the seedlings to prevent them from falling.
Raising coconut nursery is not easy, especially the dwarf variety. It is advisable you buy your seedlings from places like Nigeria Seed Council Ministry Of Agriculture and Rural Development or from an established Nursery Companies. Hybrid coconut plantation in Nigeria is increasing by the day join the queue.
IRRIGATION/WEEDING
Irrigate the plant during dry season with 50 litres of water every week, this will increase nuts yield by 50%. Use drip irrigation during this season it is very effective cost wise as well as in labour.
Weeding can be done 3 times a year. It will be wise to weed coconut plantation once the weed starts emerging. For a large farm use labourers or machine to do the weeding.
MANURE
Apply blood meal, neem oil or groundnut cake. 50kg of manure should be applied on each plant within a year. Organic manure such as cow dung is what most farmers use now to raise their farm to completion, using such manure for coconut will go a long way to improve their performance. However, if you want to use inorganic manure a combination of Urea, ammonia and potash is ideal for coconut farming.
PEST/DISEASES IN COCONUT FARMING
Common pests are beetles, red palm weevils, bug, black headed caterpillar etc. Common diseases are leaf rot, bud rot, stem bleeding, wilt etc.
CONTROL
Avoid injury on the trunk, hand-pick the insects, use neem oil or water.
Apply pesticides accordingly.
Rats attack tender nuts thereby making immature nuts to fall. Use traps to catch or fumigate the surrounding farm.
INTERCROPPING/MIXED CROPPING
Intercrop coconut farm with pineapple banana, groundnut, cassava, sweet potatoes; or crops that are smaller in size example legumes etc. This should be practised for about 3 years after which you start mixed cropping.
Coconut plants are eco-friendly as such it can accommodate other plants. You can cultivate the following perennial crops at their advance stage; cocoa, cashew etc
HARVESTING
It takes 4 – 9 years for coconut tree to reach maturity depending on the variety planted and their agricultural management. They produce in bunches maturing at the same time. From the time coconut fruits to when it is matured for harvest is about a year. They attain full size within 6 months.
Coconuts are ready for harvest once the nuts turn brownish or yellowish in colour. They sometimes fall down on their own but you can use sticks to harvest them. Use ladder or rope to get to the top of the tree for the tall ones then use your hand to pluck them.
They produce and fruit throughout their lifespan, coconut can live for more than 60 years. A tree can produce 70 nuts in a year while hybrid coconut tree can produce about 200 nuts in a year. 60% of oil can be processed out from hybrid coconut. That is why hybrid coconut seedlings should be planted for commercial coconut farming.
COCONUT VARIETIES
- Andaman ordinary cochin china, kappadam, laccadive, west coast tall, east coast tall, Philippines, java etc.
- Tall × dwarf, dwarf × tall, these two are common hybrid varieties cultivated in Nigeria. Hybrid coconut matures in 4 years, it starts flowering in the second year and come to full flowering in the third year.
- Dwarf varieties are; savukot, malaion elo orange and savukot green, they are planted for their tender coconut
Yazpanam is cultivated for their big nuts
Ayiram kaichi is planted for plenty nuts.
It has a short lifespan but matures fast and as the name implies are short in stature. Tall varieties takes long to reach maturity but starts producing many fruits once established.
MARKETABILITY
Locate companies such as cosmetics, beverages, textile etc and sell to them. You can source for international buyers and sell to them.
Supply to market men and women who retails them in the market.
Advertise your products both online and offline for a wider coverage. But I must tell you buyers are already waiting for the coconuts. These days local consumers and farmers don’t wait for it to dry because people prefers the young nuts for medicinal purposes.
WHERE TO BUY COCONUT IN NIGERIA
There are more than 15 states that produces Coconut. It is mostly cultivated in the north. The states are;
- Zamfara,
- Kano,
- Yobe,
- Jigawa,
- Sokoto,
- Borno,
- Kebbi,
- Katsina,
- Kaduna,
- Taraba,
- Adamawa,
- Niger,
- Nassarawa,
- Plateau,
- Bauchi,
- Ogun and
- Lagos.
Benefits of coconut farming
- It is a long time earning cash crop as such secures ones future
- The return on investment is more than 80%
- Coconut farming is simple to carry out
- It has varied uses, this means it can cover many areas as such has a much advantage.
- The demand for coconut is high both local and international
- It allows someone to do something else.
- You can be an employer of labour through coconut farming.
- You can also make more money by processing coconut into finished products.
COST OF RAISING A COCONUT PLANTATION
The cost of planting coconut differs from location to location. Here is a rough estimate.
- Land #100,000/ha. 10ha = #1,000,000
- Labour (clearing, ploughing, digging of hole, planting, weeding = #400,000
- Seedlings #1000/per one. 178 × 1000 = 178,000
- Manure #100,000
- Pesticides #20,000
PROFITABILITY IN COCONUT FARMING
1 acre coconut farm income. Lets see how profitable coconut farming is: assuming you have 100 coconut trees and each tree brings out 200 nuts and you sold each nut for 100 Naira. It can be more than that you know depending on the size. They don’t have uniform sizes.
Now lets add it up
100 Naira × 200 nuts = 20,000
20,000 × 100 trees = 2,000,000
This is to say for 100 coconut trees you will make nothing less than 2 million in a year. Can you beat that, what are you waiting for? Take that step today.
AKWA IBOM COCONUT PLANTATION
Akwa Ibom State has seen the huge potentials that lays in coconut business. And had developed plans on adding value to coconut; by establishing coconut Industry in Mkpatt Enin Local Government Area. They Started by cultivating 11 hectares of coconut plantation and will be expanding it from there.
In the next 3 years they will start processing coconut oil and other products for both export and local consumption.
Conclusion
Coconut farming is not tedious after planting the farming management is less stressful. These days with hybrid seedlings you can recover your investment within 3 years. The demand for coconut oil is growing everyday because of their enormous benefits.
As a farmer you wouldn’t want to miss this wonderful nutrient supplement the humus plus which can give you times 10 of your harvest. WhatsApp to get yours at a very cheap price 08155196689
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This blog is excellent and put a stop to my continuous search of many sites without a solution. It is a solution provider and very easy, concise, short, informative and simple
Thank you very much for the compliment @Sharkirat, I appreciate
Your articles have been so resourceful.
Thanks ma
I love this. It is very helpful for my research. I am passionate about planting 1,000 hybrid coconut tress in 2019. I would be grateful if I can get a business plan to look for funding to achieve this dream. Interested persons can email me at victoria.kv@gmail.com
Hello @Victoria, have you gotten someone for the business plan? If no you can contact me
Highly interesting. Kindly chat or call me on 08142596310
Hello, I’m also a practicing farmer. But I got to know your blog during my research. I would like to av a chat with you base on the business plan. Thanks. 08067228540
@Shadow you are welcome to my blog. I hope you are not the person that email me for 5m seedlings. If yes that number is too bugos so I can’t creste time to do the calculation.
Or u send ur contact to me to private chat u myself.
Thanks in anticipation!
thanks@Oseni, I will contact you
Kindly send me your contact for a private business inquiry, thank you
08035965405
Hi madam i am a coconut farmer based in Lagos . We can collaboorate as necessary
Best Regards
Shakirat
Okay. Thanks
Good evening,read through your write up an very inspiring.i have 2hec of land is it advisable to start with it and in terms of intercrops plantation,you know plantain/banana those die easily like that. I hope that won’t disturb coconut plantation.
No, it wont @AY. Plantain can do well on its own, you will have to maintain a good agronomical conditons
What a great experience shared here. Its the best i ever read since my search for how lucrative it is to invest in coconut.
Keep up the good job.
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The post is helpful thanks for your time
Hello dear,I am highly elated for the education I got from your coconut planting lessons above.i am based in port Harcourt Nigeria and I wish to venture into coconut farming.
I have 4 hecters of land laying fallow which I want to use for the farming.please how do I get the hybrid coconut seeds.This is my number,08056740972,08133204415
Contact me on 08035965405
Please kindly send me contacts of people I can purchase dwarf and hybrid coconut seedlings from
08155196689
I am interesting in purchasing coconuts and have them shipped to Uganda. Can you provide me good source for my farm. I need about 100 seeds.
Thank you,
Kenneth
WHATSAPP 08155196689
please where can i buy the hybrid seedlings for plantain ?
Thanks alot for your Education.presently i cultivate 1hecter of land for coconut palm but plant only 60 palms.i have 5 hecters of land for coconut palm, that is the dream.pls contact me to business plan for funding.God bless you.
I want to learn more about coconut farming
Very interesting to be a coconut farmer, I am also a coconut farmer myself based in Ghana. I ventured into this business as soon as I completed University and now is doing very well, I have 10 acres which are doing well so very soon I will harvest them.
Yes @Francis, congratulations
Top class info. Am sold. Wonder where I can get Malaysian dwarf hibrid coconut.
Good simple and straight. However, nothing good comes easy. Many thanks.
Good job
Thanks