CARI Omkar - A promising coconut cultivar

The variety was developed through selection from exotic accession IND 102 introduced by ICAR-CPCRI from American Samoa as NiuOma Yellow Dwarf and conserved at World Coconut Germplasm Centre at Sippighat farm, ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair. The palms of this variety take about 3-4 years for first flowering. It is recommended by Group Meeting of All India Coordinated Research Projects on Palms during 2013 for cultivation in coconut growing tracts of Andaman and Nicobar Islands ecosystems. The palms are Dwarf with slender stem, shorterdrooping leaves, stem without boleat the base. The fruits are yellow, small size, pear shape, average fruit weight of over 432g with copra content of over 74 g having oil content of about 64.5%. The palms take about 44 months for first flowering after planting. The tender nut water content is 117ml. Unlike, most other dwarf varieties, this variety performs well under rainfed conditions also. It recorded an average of 113 nuts per palm per year under rainfed conditions with copra yield of about 8.31kg per palm per year. The potential yield was estimated to be over 170 nuts per palm per year with copra yield of over 12.50kg per palm per year. Owing to the compact canopy it could be planted at closer spacing of 6 x 6 m also. The variety has not recorded any major pests under field conditions but moderately susceptible to scales and inflorescence moth.

Benefit:The variety has attractive cluster bearing bunches and hence preferred for planting in house compounds and for ornamental palnting also.

Scientific team :R.P. Medhi,T. Damodaran, R.C.Srivastava, D.R. Singh, M. Sankaran, V. Damodaran, M.A. Suryanarayana, E.V.V. BhaskarRao, P.K. Khosy, B.C. Viraktamath, Joshi Joseph, S. ChanderRao, R. Dhanapal, V. Arunachalam, B. Augustine Jerard, P.M. Kumaran, M.J. Rathnambal, R.V. Nair, P.M. Jacob and George V. Thomas