King coconut exporters agree to price of Rs. 2,000 per fruit

King coconut exporters have agreed to maintain a price of Rs. 2,000 per fruit in a move to take advantage of the unique taste of Sri Lankan king coconut water and high demand from international markets in order to boost the country’s export income, Agriculture and Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.He was speaking at an event to celebrate the establishment of the second king coconut cultivation village in the vicinity of Muruthawela Raluwa for export purposes.The first village to grow king coconut as an export crop started last year in Pahala Muruthawela. Ten thousand king coconut saplings are going to be planted in these two villages. Currently, there is a huge demand for Sri Lankan king coconut in the United Arab Emirates and many other countries.

Some 252,000 king coconuts are exported from this country to the United Arab Emirates per week. By exporting king coconut, an income of Rs. 2 billion was earned in 2022, and last year (2023) the revenue had risen to Rs. 6 billion.King coconut is a native crop of Sri Lanka and although many countries have tried to grow king coconut, those efforts have failed due to inability to grow the produce with the same taste as the king coconut in Sri Lanka. Because of this, Sri Lanka still has the monopoly in the world market for king coconut (Sri Lankan variety).In order to harvest a maximum number of nuts, several villages especially in the Muruthawela area have been encouraged to cultivate king coconut as an export crop.The Minister speaking at the event said: “The tastiest king coconut in the world is the Sri Lankan king coconut.

Therefore, steps will be taken to make Sri Lankan king coconut popular in the world with the Sri Lanka Sweet Coconut brand, and the Coconut Development Board and the Coconut Development Authority have been given the necessary programme for that.“Currently, in many countries including the United Arab Emirates, king coconuts are sold for Rs. 1,500 to 2,000 per nut. We have a monopoly. Now the competition is between the businessmen of our country. Two hundred containers of king coconut are exported to Dubai market per month.”The Minister went on to say that exporters have agreed to maintain an amount of Rs. 2,000 per nut in the future.“It is certain that king coconut will become the main export crop of our country in the future. Even now we cannot provide even two percent of the international demand,” he added.Therefore, the Minister also said that he advised the Coconut Cultivation Board to take steps to expand king coconut cultivation countrywide.

( Source : Daily News)