Coconut Board To Complete Acquisition Of 1,000-Acre Property

The Coconut Industry Board (CIB) will be seeking to complete the acquisition of a 1,000-acre property during the new fiscal year.

The property will be used to establish a new seed garden, nursery and farm, which will provide raw material for the establishment of coconut water and coconut oil factories.

As contained in the 2020/21 Jamaica Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, the seed garden is intended to adequately supply Jamaican farmers, entrepreneurs and investors, to achieve the goal of planting 146,000 acres of coconuts over the next 10 years.

Also, the CIB will set 400,000 coconut seeds, with an anticipated germination rate of 50 per cent, producing 220,000 seedlings, and plant at least 20 acres of coconut trees from approximately 4,000 seedlings.

Meanwhile, the Board’s Research Department will seek to create high-yield and disease-resistant coconut palm varieties through the use of molecular techniques and tissue culture.

This is in response to operational and environmental challenges facing the industry such as disease and pest infestation of the trees and nuts, unpredictable weather and natural disaster, increased price inputs, and praedial larceny.

Established under the Coconut Industry Control Act, 1945, the CIB has responsibility for promoting the interest and efficiency of the coconut industry; encouraging the production of coconuts; regulating the purchase, sale and export of coconuts as well as the importation of coconut products and substitutes.