PROCESSING OF HIGH VALUE COCONUT PRODUCTS AND SUITABLE MACHINERY FOR THEIR PRODUCTION P. G. Pimcliiliewa Abstract Owing lo lardy growth in the production ofcoconut oil over the last three decades, it faces the threat of being edged out of the international market. Processing of high value products has often met with failure in many countries inoslly because of incoiiipalibillty with the available local resources. Experience indicates that (lie location of small scale processing units in rural areas where raw material availability, labour and other requirements are not in short supply will be more appropriate than in organizing large processing units in or around metropolitan areas. While small producing countries in the Latin American and Caribbean benefit from the export of fresh nuts, the major producing countries have not tapped the existing potential. The prospects of producing and marketing of coconut based food products and beverages derived from the kernel, water and sap as well as shell based charcoal and coir products arc high. What is important is lo select processes appropriate lo local conditions and as such arc sustainable, | 1, Need for new strategies The need to search for new strategies in research and development for coconut if it were to be competitive is obvious. Tbe threat of coconut being edged out of tbe international market is staring in its face. Tbe following figures speak for it. Table I. Relative Importance of Coconut Oil In Tbe World Production & Exports of Vegetable Oils (In I 000 Metric Tons) Production - 1961-67 average Export - 1962 -66 average Soyabean Oil 3519 Soyabean Oil 648 Ground Nut Oil 2376 Palm Oil 620 Coconut Oil 2163 Coconut Oil 472 Sunflower Seed Oi 2007 Ground Nut Oil 403 Olive Oil , 1373 Sunflower Seed Oil 356 Palm Oi! 1246 Cotton Seed Oil 237 Rape Seed Oil 1042 Palm kernel Oil 397 (Source: Tbe Coconut Industry of Asia, UN 1969 p.5,9) 295 Table 2. Relative Importance of Coconut Oil In Tbe World Production (Ond Exports of Vegetable Oils (In 1000 Metric Tons) Production - 2001/02 average Export - 2001/02 average Soyabean Oil 28410 Soyabean Oi! 8620 Palm Oil 24610 Palm Oil 17010 Sunflower Seed Oil 7660 Sunflower Seed Oil 2680 Rape Seed Oil 12760 Rape Seed Oil 2480 Cotton Seed Oil 3820 Coconut Oil 1770 Peanut Oil 4810 Palm kemel Oil 1330 Coconut Oil 3200 Olive Oil 2330 Palm kemel Oil 3030 (Source: USDA Agriculture Circular December 2001) Within forty years, cocomit oi! bad dropped from tbe fourth place in world production to seventh and third to fifth in exports. What is more alarming is tbe percentage increase of tbe competing oils such as palm oil and soya oil during these years. Production of palm oil increased by 1100 percent during the last 30years.In tbe case of coconut oil increases during tbe Iast40 years of tbe last century was 50 percent. Palm kemel oil, which is its closest competitor, is likely to overtake coconut oil both in production ajid exports very soon. Production increase in tbe case of competing vegetable oils was achieved tbrougb expansion of area as well as genetic improvement. It is a continuing process for other vegetable oil producers. For example Brazil 's soya bean exports has grown from 8.9 million tons three years ago to an estimated 17.5 million tons in tbe Oct 02/Sep03 year. Such a dramatic expansion has been fuelled by higher yields and 2.6 million more hectares, which led to more than 10 million additional tons being produced (USDA Nov. 2001 p.3). So it is imperative that, not to speak of competition, but at least for mere survival, coconut industry has to look for new strategies in production, processing and marketing. 2. Processing of high value coconut products Now let me come to my topic that is Processing of High Value Coconut Products and Suitable Machinery for their production. We are quite familiar with tbe multilti purpose nature of coconut. There is hardly any part of tbe coconut tree, which is thrown away. Recently there was an article in one of tbe Sri Lankan newspapers about the use of tbe empties of young coconut. After drinking tbe water of the young coconut, what we do now is to throw away tbe empties, which sometimes tum out to be tbe breeding ground for mosquitoes. In this article, it was suggested that tbe empties could be used as flowerpots or even to raise plants in nursery beds. So much potential. But to what extent can we, and have we, tapped, exploited the potential in coconut? Whatever we have done has been more on an ad hoc basis. For nearly two centuries coconut in the form of copra was tbe raw material which fed tbe oil crushing industry of tbe west. In 1966 three years before the establishment of APCC tbe export volume of copra from tbe Asian and Far Eastern countries accounted for 1,170,000 m t, as against 434,000 mt of coconut oil. Gradually it dawned on tbe producers tbe need to crush copra in their own countries, so much so that some of tbe countries even imposed a ban on export of copra. In 2000 only about 162,000m tons of copra was exported from APCC countries. 296 Crushing copra in the producing countries was the first major step taken by them in value addition which provided them with two export products, coconut oil and copra meal. These two remain even today the two, biggest export items in volume from tbe producing countries. But even this move from copra to coconut oil was not without problems. One glaring drawback was tbe excess crushing capacities as against tbe supply availabilities. Tbe Philippines, the biggest producer of copra has nearly five million-ton capacities, while her production is only about 2 million tons of copra and uses only less than 40% capacity. In Sri Lanka even as far back as 1967 "The mills were operating at 45.4 percent of their capacity and the local production was not adequate for tbe full utilization of installed capacity." (Coconut Industry of Asia p.37) But strangely in late seventies it installed two modem crushing plants with a combined capacity of 60 mt a day. This was in spite of tbe country not recording even a marginal increase in production during tbe intervening years. Subsequent years saw most of these mills being dismantled and sold for scrap! Moreover, Solomon Islands reported that one of its crushing plants has tbe capacity of 24,000 mt per year although her annual production of copra is around 20,000 mt. Some of them have been commissioned without taking into consideration the supply availability, cost of production and logistical problems, Tbe situation in Solomon Islands was summed up at a COCOTECH Meeting in following words "One of tbe constraints to development of factory industries in small Pacific countries is tbe scarcity of qualified and experienced engineering personnel at all levels. Second constraint is tbe shortage of contractors capable of carrying out major repairs. Another problem is tbe escalating fuel costs." (COCOTECH Report 1991 p, 590), Tbe move from copra to coconut oil did not improve tlie prospects of the coconut industry or tbe producers. Tbe increasing supplies of substitutes, both natural and synthetics continued to affect the industry so much so that in 1986 tbe price of coconut oil dropped to $240 a ton in tbe intemational market. ^ In this background, tiie coconut industry had to look for other means for its survival. And product diversification and thereby value addition came to be identified as one way of achieving it. Realizing the multi product nature of tbe coconut tree and the potential it holds in turning out many processed products, countries tumed their attention to product diversification. However, when we look back we seem to have achieved very much less than we expected. 2:1 Progress? In spite of our enthusiasm, encouragement and interest, in product diversification, in the last few decades tbe coconut industry has not made any significant advance. Compare the Table below indicating tbe export of coconut products for tbe year 1986 with that of 1996-2000. Table 3. APCC: Exports of Coconut Products - 1986 (In Metric Tons) Counlry Copra Cocomit Copra Desiccated Coir Shell Act, Oil Meal Coconut Products Charcoal Carbon India 1,000* • 24,030 Indonesia 5,511 380.498 303 1,430 Malaysia 41,220 49,039 7,000* Papua New Guinea 92,968 41,109 19.575 Philippines 136,045 1,237,878 817,641 67,613 27,202 12,123 Solomon Islands 31,756 Sri Lanka 9,753 85,347 40,080 60,819 85,656 27,731 4,741 Thailand 5,917 5,621 Vanuatu 40,612 Western Samoa 3,350 13.798 6,152 F.S. Micronesia 1,500* Palau 5,000* 2,500* Total 7,204 1,437,682 1,273,363 135,735 115,307 56,363 16,864 • Estimate 297 Table 4. APCC; Exports of coconut products, 1996-2000 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 EXPORTS (MT) Copra 230,282 178,353 180,954 175,925 162,920 Coconut Oil 1,303,820 1,822,619 1,674,745 942,960 1,980,157 Copra Meal 805,572 '966'2i2 '860^246 449,541 '977^410 Desiccated Coconut 181,525 194,808 159,999 183,024 201,341 Coco Chemicals 1 28,864 33,260 28,987 22,537 23,532 Coir and Coir Products 102,283 104^810 112^337 110,002 117,394 Shell Charcoal 66,861 70,904 50,261 49,518 59,044 Activated Carbon 60,046 68,102 65,807 72,984 74,948 EXPORT VALUE 1,570,968 1,798,188 1,547,149 1,222,782 1,436,075 (USS '000) 1 Consisting of methyl ester, fatty acid and fatty alcohol from tbe Philippines Source: Statistical Yearbook APCC 2001 The table indicates that even after 15 years coconut oil and copra meal continue to be tbe two major export products.