By Cindy Parkinson
THE first batch of the Brazilian Green Dwarf coconuts landed in Guyana on Monday, paving the way for intensive research which could become a “game changer” for the local coconut industry.

This development was shared by Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha; Country Representative for the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Jhaman Kundun and General Manager of the Hope Estate, Ricky Roopchand, during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday.

With Guyana being a member of the international coconut community, Minister Mustapha explained that coconut has become a very lucrative crop around the world.
He said that this latest development has the potential to be a “game changer” for the coconut industry in Guyana, because of the current trajectory in this non-traditional sector.

The minister further explained that the Brazilian Green Dwarf coconut is a “three-year, high-breed coconut” that has the capacity to produce copra, water and oil.

According to him, there is an exciting and renewed interest in the coconut industry by farmers who had given up on it.

He also expressed his delight in seeing the number of young people who are getting involved in the agricultural sector.

CARDI officials have played a major role in this venture and they were very instrumental in organising the trip to the Brazil-based Coconut Seed Nut Farm of Tecnologia Na Produção De Coqueiros (Technology in Coconut Production) (COHIBRA).

Kundun told the Guyana Chronicle that he is “overjoyed” that the CARDI shipment of the first thousand Brazilian Green Dwarf coconuts is finally here.

He extended his heartfelt appreciation to the Government of Guyana, the Minister of Agriculture, the Secretariat, NAREI and the Hope Estate for facilitating and allowing the importation of the coconuts into Guyana, so that they could do research and testing.

He added that they are “excited” that Guyana is getting the opportunity to benefit from “improved genetic materials, improved production and improved breeds of coconuts.”

He explained that such an initiative would help the industry to further position itself to satisfy the growing demand for coconuts and its products. “People are becoming more health conscious and are recognising the benefits of coconut water today, and that puts Guyana in the best position to satisfy the high demand for it.”

The CARDI representative said the team that visited COHIBRA carefully considered a number of factors before deciding on this variety.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that we are importing the best and one of the main factors that we considered with the Green Dwarf coconut is that it is much more resilient to pests and diseases.”

Kundun stated that this is just the “beginning” of such an initiative, which he predicted will grow greatly in the years to come.

Meanwhile, Roopchand said, “Hope Estate wholeheartedly welcomes this intervention because it is a boost for our coconut industry and we will be a part of the multiplication process in collaboration with NAREI. Our intention is to import more coconuts of this variety from Brazil in the near future as finance becomes available to do so. ”

The official launch of the Brazilian Green Dwarf coconut initiation will happen at a later date.