CIB Research Driving Growth and Resilience in Jamaica’s Coconut Industry

Jamaica’s coconut industry continues to benefit from decades of scientific research and experimental breeding thanks to the work of the Coconut Industry Board (CIB) and its field gene banks.

Botanist and Plant Breeder at the Board, Chantelle Campbell-McTaggart, says the ongoing development of resilient hybrids, such as the Maypan and Braypan, has helped the industry to survive major threats, particularly lethal yellowing disease.

“Over the years, Jamaica has been importing and introducing different varieties from all over the world and those varieties are kept in what we call field gene banks. We have two field gene banks, one is in Portland and the other is in St. Thomas,” she said during a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’.

Mrs. Campbell-McTaggart explained that the gene banks serve as vital repositories for both dwarf and tall coconut varieties, supporting experimental crosses and other research aimed at identifying the best-performing cultivars under local conditions.

“The Malayan [Dwarf] variety showed some good resistance or tolerance against the disease,” she said

Because of its performance, it was selected for an experimental cross with the Panama Tall variety in the 1960s.

The resulting hybrid was named the ‘Maypan’—a combination of the ‘Malayan’ and ‘Panama’—and was officially released in the 1970s. It was used to resuscitate the industry.

The breeding process, known as hybridisation, involves controlled pollination between two different coconut varieties.

“Typically when we’re doing experimental crosses to create hybrids, we would cross a dwarf variety with a tall variety, and usually the dwarf variety is what we call the mother palm… and the tall variety would be the father palm,” she said.

The Maypan is a product of this method. The Malayan Dwarf served as the mother palm while pollen from the Panama Tall was applied to create the hybrid.

“That Maypan hybrid… has some good tolerance against lethal yellowing as well as large nut size from the father palm,” she said.

Because of its favourable traits, the Maypan became a widely distributed and commercially grown variety in Jamaica.

To ensure the consistency of the hybridisation process, a hybrid seed garden has been established in St. Elizabeth.

“At that seed garden, we have established the Malayan Green Dwarf mother palms as well as another variety. We have another collection site… where we have the Panama Talls growing. We would collect the pollen from… St. Mary, process the pollen to dry it down and then… transport the pollen to our hybrid seed garden in St. Elizabeth,” Mrs. Campbell-McTaggart said.

While the Maypan remains a staple, work continues on evaluating newer hybrids. One such is the Braypan, developed in 2016 and currently under field evaluation.

“My predecessor was very instrumental in developing the new hybrid. The Braypan was developed through an experimental cross between the Brazil Green Dwarf and the Panama Tall. It was very prolific and very sweet, produced really well and it showed some good tolerance against lethal yellowing disease,” Mrs. Campbell-McTaggart said.

The Brazil Green was one of 11 varieties introduced to Jamaica in the early 2000s and quickly gained attention for its productivity and sweetness as well as its tolerance to disease.

While both the Maypan and Braypan share the Panama Tall as a father palm, researchers continue to evaluate whether there are any notable differences in their performance.

“It may take some time to produce a high-quality hybrid that is ready for commercial production. Coconuts take about 15 months for them to birth a seed nut and then another six months for it to be ready for planting. You can say around two years… and after that it may take another three to four years to come into bearing, depending on the variety,” Mrs. Campbell-McTaggart said.

Despite the extended timelines, she affirmed that the work remains vital to securing the long-term sustainability of coconut farming in Jamaica.

“Essentially, that is the concept of hybridisation. When they had done the experimental crosses… that would have been one of the hybrids that pretty much stood up in terms of performance, yield and showing strong resistance,” Mrs. Campbell-McTaggart pointed out.

As research continues, the Coconut Industry Board remains focused on strengthening the industry by producing high-performing, disease-resistant hybrids for the local and international markets.

For more information about the work of the CIB, persons can visit their website at coconutindustryboard.org/.