Effective solutions for enhancing coconut harvests from DIMO Agribusinesses
Daily FT: The domestic market has experienced a surge in coconut prices due to the gap between supply and demand. As a solution for this, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) need to be adopted to increase the harvest efficiency in coconut cultivation fields.
Accordingly, maintaining spacing among plants, enabling a sufficient amount of sunlight, replacing unproductive trees with new plants, soil conservation through intercropping, pest management, balanced plant nutrition, and efficiency in water management can be considered as the factors for harvest efficiency.
Normally, 100-120 coconuts can be harvested annually from a healthy, well-maintained coconut tree in Sri Lanka. For such a harvest outcome, 60 L of water needs to be provided to the tree daily. Over time, when the coconut tree cannot sustain nutrition by itself and soil nutrition depletes, it needs to be outsourced as fertiliser. However, research shows that in Sri Lanka, only 30% of coconut cultivators provide fertiliser and only 10% provide water to the coconut trees. The limited application of water and fertiliser has resulted in an annual yield of 40-60 coconuts from a tree.
DIMO Agribusinesses, the agriculture arm of DIMO, has developed a range of solutions for enhancing coconut production from planting coconut trees to coconut harvesting.
The prime step for high-quality coconut production is planting high-quality coconut seedlings. DIMO Agribusinesses, a registered provider of high-quality coconut seedlings grown with state-of-the-art technology, supports cultivators with superior planting material.
Under the DIMO Fertiliser brand, DIMO Agribusinesses offers a range of fertiliser blends, including YPM-D, YPM-W, APM-D, APM-W, and APM-TSP. In addition to these, it has introduced a specialised fertiliser for coconut cultivation under the Grow Max brand featuring the renowned Nitrophoska compound blend.
In addition, DIMO Agribusinesses conducts lab testing for soil analysis to maintain the proper quality of the soil and recommends suitable fertilisers for the soil through its advisory services. It provides coconut growers with continuous knowledge of technology and educates coconut growers on the proper use of fertilisers.
Due to the difficulties in supplying water through orthodox methods, growers do not provide sufficient water for their crops. DIMO Agribusinesses is currently working towards popularising micro-irrigation technology through semi-automatic sub-surface drip irrigation systems in collaboration with the globally renowned Rivulis as an ideal solution in addressing water issues in coconut cultivations. As a result, they also have developed water-soluble fertiliser (Fertigation Fertiliser) mixtures that suit coconut cultivation and can be supplied through the same systems. DIMO Agribusinesses supports in consultancy on selecting the most suitable water system structure for coconut lands, the amount of fertiliser to be applied, the required fertiliser injection flow rate, the size of the tank, and whether a bypass system is required, and not only does it design and install micro-irrigation systems, but it also provides after-sales services. Accordingly, the company is always committed to general maintenance, resolving technical issues, and system improvements on behalf of the farmers.
Moreover, for the cost-conscious growers, DIMO Agribusinesses has introduced attractive loan facilities in collaboration with Sarvodaya Development Finance (SDF) as it contributes to increasing the productivity of coconut cultivation by offering a high return on investment (ROI).
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s plantation industry has become a hotspot for business/investment opportunities in the country given the increasing local demand and that of the foreign markets. Among the crops that are facing a demand locally and internationally are coconuts. Sri Lanka’s coconut harvest is currently insufficient to meet the growing local and international demand. The Sri Lankan government’s move to import coconut-based products like kernels to meet the local and export demand while also engaging in introducing effective solutions to local producers to enhance coconut harvests, all indicate the growing business/investment opportunities in the coconut plantation and related product manufacturing. Given the fast-expanding market for coconut and coconut-based products in the local and international markets, there’s a multitude of business/investment opportunities that present lucrative business ventures for foreign businesses/investors that could also be expanded through local partnerships. Foreign businesses that launch operations in Sri Lanka’s coconut industry could also use the strong trade ties enjoyed by the country with many foreign countries to gain access to markets in the region as well. Given the growing opportunities in Sri Lanka’s coconut industry, local businesses could also look at forming partnerships with foreign businesses/investors to further expand operations to meet the increasing demand.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/2025025/Z_3 |