Hiagrotech
The Idea behind starting Hiagrotech Coconut Hybrid Seedling Production Farm was not just to produce elite hybrid seedlings but a farm where farmers are educated about the importance of cultivating high yielding hybrid coconut palms and are also shown and educated the entire process involved in the production of a hybrid seedlings.
Hiagrotech currently produces Dwarf x Tall (D x T) hybrid seedlings using Gangabondam Green Dwarf as the female cultivar into West Coast Tall as the male cultivar. The Gangabondam dwarf and West Coast Tall varieties are of pure Indian origin doing very well under our tropical climatic conditions for over 100 years.
The breeding palms used for hybridization at Hiagrotech are selected under the following principles.
- Genetically pure high yielding Tall and Dwarf palm.
- Recording the nut production per individual palm for three years in both Tall and Dwarf palms.
- The limit fixed for the breeding female and male palms are – Gangabondom Green Dwarf (female cultivar) is 250 nuts per tree per year and West Coast Tall (male cultivar) is 150 nuts per tree per year.
- The process of cross pollination is done by the closed bagging system and is done by highly skilled trained Agri Graduates. We have a state of the art laboratory, where the collected pollen is stored and used for pollination.
- Hiagrotech currently produces Dwarf and Tall hybrid seedling using Gangabondam Green Dwarf as the female cultivar and West Coast Tall as the male cultivar which is named as Hiagrotech.
- Hiagrotech has exotic dwarf seedlings of the Malayan Orange and yellow varieties.
Why does the Hiagrotech hybrid comparatively gives more yield:
- Dwarf vs Tall hybrid can be planted to increase the single tree yield.
- When Dwarf coconut is breed with fertile and well performing Tall coconut, the resulting hybrid produces characters of both the parents.
- Earliness say 2-4 years flowering unlike 5-7 years waiting period in pure Tall varieties.
- More kernel and copra and oil content that is the characters acquired from well performing Tall coconut varieties.
- More number of bunches and fruits per tree per year that is the characters acquired from Dwarf varieties.
- Life period of coconut tree for commercial economic coconut cultivation is 50 to 60 years that is acquired from Tall coconut tree that lives up to 100 years. Where pure Dwarf varieties have 25 to 30 years only.
- Hybrid palms have 40 to 60% self-pollination character that enhances individual tree yield up to 250 to 350 in numbers.
- The hybrid can tolerate or resist diseases and droughts that mostly the characters acquired by the Tall trees growing in specific locations and this character can well be built up in new hybrids.
Besides the above, other factors also control yield of the coconut tree like:
Temperature 25-30 degree Celsius ideal but even grows well in temperature of about 30 to 40 degrees, but certainly temperature beyond 40 degrees will have its negative impact on yield and cold seasons with temperature below 25 degrees will affect the yield.
