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 fertilizer. However, research shows that in Sri Lanka, only 30% of coconut cultivators provide fertilizer and only 10% provide water to the coconut trees. The limited application of water and fertilizer 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 Fertilizer brand, DIMO Agribusinesses offers a range of fertilizer blends, including YPM-D, YPM-W, APM-D, APM-W, and APM-TSP. In addition to these, it has introduced a specialized fertilizer 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 fertilizers 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 fertilizers.
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 popularizing 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 fertilizer (Fertigation Fertilizer) 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 fertilizer to be applied, the required fertilizer 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).
DIMO has introduced a coconut estate administration service for plantation owners to manage and maintain coconut plantations. The company takes responsibility for the plantation and utilizes the expertise of its experienced staff, providing recommendations and agricultural advice with complete maintenance.
In addition, DIMO Agribusinesses, through its modern state-of-the-art manufacturing plants, is working towards maximizing the benefits of the country’s coconut production by minimizing the waste that occurs during coconut consumption through producing value-added products such as virgin coconut oil, cream, coconut milk, and coconut water, to bring foreign exchange to the country through local coconut cultivation.
