Prachaup Khiri Khan is the most important area of Thailand when it comes to coconut production. It is also one of the worst drought affected provinces in the country. Because of the drought conditions coconut production has been seriously affected and is threatening Thailand’s position as the worlds second largest exporter of coconut products.
Apart from the lack of water affecting the growth of trees in coconut groves the drought conditions have also seen an increase in the pests that attack both the trees and fruit. Particularly the Coconut Hispine Beetle. Production has been so severely affected that the leading coconut products production company in Thailand, Ampol Food Processing, has had to resort to importing coconuts from Indonesia.
Locally coconuts that cost an average 6/7 Baht last year are now fetching 20 Baht a piece. while shredded coconut that is used to produce coconut milk has increased in price to 58-68 Baht a kilogramme from around 30 Baht a year ago.
The main area for production within the province is Thap Sakae but even were I live, 20 km further North, coconut farming competes with fishing as the main industry. The coconut groves surrounding my home have certainly suffered and many of the trees are showing signs of dying with lots of dead branches.
While the lack of coconuts affects national production of coconut products it also has a knock on effect to the local labour force, many of whom are employed in the industry. This might in fact be good in the short term for the people making yard brooms and other products from the spines of the dead branches but it certainly is not so good for the future employment prospects of the army of workers who use their long hooked bamboo poles to remove the fruit from the trees here.
The only glimmer of hope on the horizon for coconut production in this area of Thailand, apart from a lot of rain to break the drought, seems to be experimentation with a parasitic wasp which can be used to kill Coconut Hispine Beetle, since it has been used successfully in other areas of Asia. This method of attack is recommended by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation as an effective biological way to eliminate pest outbreaks.
Given that the last rain of note in this area fell in October 2010 and it is unlikely we will see significant amounts before March/April 2011 it seems to me that the drought will continue to affect Thailand’s coconut production for the foreseeable future.
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