Coconut Breeding in India

Cocos nucifera L. is a perennial multipurpose palm grown widely in the humid tropics. It provides nutritious food and refreshing drink, edible oil and non-edible uses, fiber of commercial value, shells for fuel and industrial uses, timber and a variety of miscellaneous products for domestic and industrial uses. It is grown mainly in coastal areas and island ecosystems sustaining the livelihood of people and protecting the environment. There are conflicting theories regarding the origin and domestication of coconut. Coconut populations worldwide have been classified into two major groups: the Pacific group with five sub-groups (Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and the Pacific coast of Central and South America), and the Indo-Atlantic group. The genetic resources in coconut are widely exploited through selection, hybridization for a number of desirable traits and have resulted in the development of many varieties. Breeding efforts are mostly confined to conventional approaches such as mass selection and hybridization, besides attempts to use individual palm selection for novel traits. Its perennial nature, heterozygosity, long juvenile phase and lack of technologies for mass propagation of palms with targeted traits are the challenges in breeding efforts. This chapter covers conventional breeding approaches such as mass selection and hybridization, information on varietal groups, identified genetic resources, breeding methods and techniques, current status and future strategies of coconut breeding in India.