Due to rising demand, the Department of Agriculture has launched initiatives to encourage the production of “gelatinous coconuts,” which may fetch anywhere from 60 to 100 baht per coconut on the domestic market.
An indigenous coconut cultivar known for its abnormally thick endosperm is called gelatinous coconut. The outcome is a transparent jelly-like flesh that covers nearly the whole inside of the coconut seeds. Fewer than three hundred of every thousand coconuts produce these unusual fruits, yet they’ve become a major cash crop in many countries that grow coconuts.
The Chumphon Horticultural Research Center has been testing the feasibility of utilizing embryo culture to cultivate purebred NHK-C2 gelatinous coconut trees with support from the Department of Agriculture. The average yearly output for a tree bred using this kind of agriculture is estimated to be 80 jelly-filled coconuts.
121 NHK-C2 coconut trees, according to department authorities, were successfully planted in the Kanthuli hybrid coconut plantation in Surat Thani Province between 2013 and 2022. In the eighth or ninth year, each tree allegedly produced 105 gelatinous coconuts yearly.
The Director-General of the Department of Agriculture, Rapeepat Chantarasriwong, has stated that after the fourth year of cultivation, NHK-C2 coconut farmers can expect to earn up to 155,607 baht per rai of farming area annually, which is a much higher net return considering the total production cost per rai is approximately 9,393 baht.
The Suratthani Seed Research and Development Center may be reached at 081-188-2217 by anyone who wish to grow NHK-C2 coconuts.
