COCONUT HISTORY IN MALAYSIA

COCONUT (Cocos nucifera) it is a drupe (aka stone fruit). It can be found almost along every single coast of Malaysia’s beach and sometimes even inland, which explains why coconut is widely used or consumed in Malaysians’ daily life. From my observation although coconut is everywhere, it doesn’t take its geological advantage to become the main economical crop that contributes to our national Malaysia development, in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), export earnings, as well as livelihood income and employment. Why is this happening so?. Let’s take a look back on the historical story of Malaysia’s coconut. When I talk about a brief coconut history it started around 9,000 years ago, coconut was suspected to be found by humans at some place on earth. No evidence shows what is the exact country of origin but Malaysia’s larger islands and continental coast are indicated to be the regions where coconut was domesticated. Coconut harvesting by a native orang asli family during the 1960s. Dating back to the mid-19th century, where a rough data of Malaysia’s coconut production amount was first recorded (on year 1961), coconut palms were being planted by private sectors and small landholders. It acted as a source of food to these households, while remaining ones would then be traded for other daily necessities. The total area of coconut plantations by that time were, however, not stated in any official documents.

During year 1961, the total amount of production of this agricultural commodity hits top oneamong all crops, with the value of 1,344,819 tonnes. However, it did not bring the most income to Malaysia. The reason behind was because almost 70% of the total production was consumed domestically.Sum of coconut production quantities in Malaysia from year 1961 to 2013. (Data source from FAOSTAT). Than in year 1984, it is officially stated that the total agricultural land use of coconut plantations in Malaysia were 266,202 hectares. The acreage then hit the highest point in the following year with an amount of 334,100 hectares. In 1995, a declination was recorded to roughly 250,000 hectares. Nevertheless, Malaysia was still a net exporter of coconut products, with a total export value of RM165.2 million (US$43 million). Moving on to the early 20th century, the oil crop industry started to flourish in Malaysia. The increased competition from other oils (eg. palm oil, soy bean oil) has caused coconut plantations to be less focused. In year 2012, coconut production quantity significantly dropped to 606,530 tonnes (from top five among Malaysia’s agriculture commodities in year 1985 to top eight in year 2012). In year 2014, Malaysia is no longer a coconut exporter. Supply and Utilization Accounts (SUA) of Selected Agricultural Commodities, Malaysia has shown statistics that the self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) of coconuts was no more 100% (96.7%) while the import dependency ratio (IDR) raised up to 11%. As coconut crop is still being cultivated by smallholdings without using recommended varieties, a declination in yield and farm productivity is now observed in Malaysia, while in the meantime, demands for coconuts are rising in the market. Thanks to all readers regarding thi article.

By,
M Anem,
Senior Agronomist,
Bandar Baru UDA,
Johor Bahru,
Johor.