Magnitude of resource and potential yields
Indonesia and the Philippines followed by India, Papua New Guinea and Thailand showed large areas with senile palms which are no longer productive and are therefore due for cutting or replanting. Indonesia as well as some of the Pacific Islands (Fiji, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu) have 50 to 60% of their coconut area with over-aged or senile palms. Among the Pacific countries, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji have quite large numbers of coconut trees that need replanting with so much trees that could be processed into coconut wood.
With Indonesia's estimate of about 50% over-aged palms, the country has a coconut wood resource of approximately 185.6 million senile trees which could be cut down and replaced with hybrids and other high yielding varieties. Based on a sawn lumber recovery of 0.30 cubic meter per tree, around 55.7 million cubic meters of sawn wood are available for economic utilization. Assuming that the sawn lumber shall be used for the construction of a typical 60-square meter, 2-bedroom low cost house with a lumber requirement of 15 cubic meters per house, a total of 3.71 million housing units could be constructed out of these wood materials. And if this cocowood resource were spread in a 40-year replanting cycle, still a yearly cocowood resource of 4.64 million senile trees or 1.4 million cubic meters of sawn wood would be available yearly in the next 40 years for economic utilization. This cocowood resource could be used to build some 93,000 housing units per year.
In the Philippines, where coconut wood is becoming widely used in house construction, a cocowood resource of 95 million senile trees would give 28.5 million cubic meters of sawn wood for economic utilization, or a potential of 1.89 million housing units.
The age of a coconut tree can be visually estimated by counting the leaf scars while the volume of the stem is derived in the usual manner from its height and diameter. A typical coconut farm is estimated to have 100 trees per hectare. Coconut wood resource assessment in a given/region area can be done by estimation of the percentage area considered overmature or senile, the tree population per hectare, the replanting or felling rate per year and the wood volume per tree. Other methods of resource assessment involve actual survey in a given area or aerial photography.
It should also be noted that since coconut is basically a smallholder's crop, adequate incentives from government and appropriate policies on cutting and replanting senile and unproductive coconut trees must be in place. To make the resource available, coconut smallholders must be predisposed to cut and replant senile trees, given the necessary incentives, policy support end the required facilities and infrastructure. The investment both from government and the private sector necessary to enable productive use of this resource would certainly use of this resource would certainly contribute to better employment, and additional income for the coconut smallholders and overall economic development in coconut growing countries.
Coconut cutting or replanting in the many coconut producing countries in the Asia-Pacific region has been proceeding at a very slow rate per year, if at all. Some countries do not yet have an institutionalized coconut replanting programme. Given the necessary boost and with the provisions of adequate incentives, coupled with the pressure of a dwindling conventional wood resource, coconut cutting could proceed in a grand scale thereby making available a tremendously supply of coconut trunk for lumber.
Sources FAO Report, Assessed on 21 February 2016
Indonesia and the Philippines followed by India, Papua New Guinea and Thailand showed large areas with senile palms which are no longer productive and are therefore due for cutting or replanting. Indonesia as well as some of the Pacific Islands (Fiji, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu) have 50 to 60% of their coconut area with over-aged or senile palms. Among the Pacific countries, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji have quite large numbers of coconut trees that need replanting with so much trees that could be processed into coconut wood.
With Indonesia's estimate of about 50% over-aged palms, the country has a coconut wood resource of approximately 185.6 million senile trees which could be cut down and replaced with hybrids and other high yielding varieties. Based on a sawn lumber recovery of 0.30 cubic meter per tree, around 55.7 million cubic meters of sawn wood are available for economic utilization. Assuming that the sawn lumber shall be used for the construction of a typical 60-square meter, 2-bedroom low cost house with a lumber requirement of 15 cubic meters per house, a total of 3.71 million housing units could be constructed out of these wood materials. And if this cocowood resource were spread in a 40-year replanting cycle, still a yearly cocowood resource of 4.64 million senile trees or 1.4 million cubic meters of sawn wood would be available yearly in the next 40 years for economic utilization. This cocowood resource could be used to build some 93,000 housing units per year.
In the Philippines, where coconut wood is becoming widely used in house construction, a cocowood resource of 95 million senile trees would give 28.5 million cubic meters of sawn wood for economic utilization, or a potential of 1.89 million housing units.
The age of a coconut tree can be visually estimated by counting the leaf scars while the volume of the stem is derived in the usual manner from its height and diameter. A typical coconut farm is estimated to have 100 trees per hectare. Coconut wood resource assessment in a given/region area can be done by estimation of the percentage area considered overmature or senile, the tree population per hectare, the replanting or felling rate per year and the wood volume per tree. Other methods of resource assessment involve actual survey in a given area or aerial photography.
It should also be noted that since coconut is basically a smallholder's crop, adequate incentives from government and appropriate policies on cutting and replanting senile and unproductive coconut trees must be in place. To make the resource available, coconut smallholders must be predisposed to cut and replant senile trees, given the necessary incentives, policy support end the required facilities and infrastructure. The investment both from government and the private sector necessary to enable productive use of this resource would certainly use of this resource would certainly contribute to better employment, and additional income for the coconut smallholders and overall economic development in coconut growing countries.
Supply
Totalling the country level availability reported in the sections which follow, the whole Asia-Pacific region has an estimated number of senile trees of about 371.3 million or 111.4 million cubic meters of sawn coconut wood. This coconut wood supply level would be enough to build a total of 7.4 million housing units. However, it must be noted that the actual availability of this resource depends on the magnitude of the replanting/coconut cutting programmes of the coconut producing countries in the region. These must be adequate incentives for coconut cutting/replanting in terms of income derived from the sale of logs, government and private sector assistance in actual logging operation and subsidies for the new planting of high yielding coconut varieties by the price derived from the sale of the trunks. This led to the Philippine government's policy of regulating the cutting of coconut trees only in the case of senile, diseased and typhoon-damaged trees. The price of the trunks even encouraged smallholder coconut farmers to indiscriminately cut productive trees.Coconut cutting or replanting in the many coconut producing countries in the Asia-Pacific region has been proceeding at a very slow rate per year, if at all. Some countries do not yet have an institutionalized coconut replanting programme. Given the necessary boost and with the provisions of adequate incentives, coupled with the pressure of a dwindling conventional wood resource, coconut cutting could proceed in a grand scale thereby making available a tremendously supply of coconut trunk for lumber.
Sources FAO Report, Assessed on 21 February 2016
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