1st Hybrid Coconut Seed Nuts in Kenya

Описание: The 1st consignment of Imported Hybrid Coconut Seeds docked at the port of Mombasa from India on Sunday 19th November 2017. The Commissioning Ceremony was on Friday 24th November 2017 at the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) in Matuga Constituency, Kwale County.

The imported hybrid coconuts are more superior to the existing Indigenous East African Tall Coconut in terms of quality and quantity of copra production per nut and are set to revolutionize the coconut sector in Kenya. Key among the superior qualities of the hybrid coconut include the maturity period which is 21/2 years compared to the indigenous that takes an average 6 years and production per palm/tree per year is 250 nuts compared to 50 nuts of the indigenous. The hybrid palms are also product specific; i.e. the coconut water; oil content; fibre content; palm wine production etc. while the indigenous is planted by chance.

The initiative is funded by Danida through the Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust (MESPT). Key partners include; KALRO, KEPHIS, Nuts and Oils Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture and the County governments within the Coastal Region. MESPT has supported the coconut value chain among other commodities for more than 13 years and was instrumental in the formation of the Kenya Coconut Development Authority which has since rebranded to Agriculture Food Authority (AFA).