Biochar for Sustainable Coconut Productivity

Coconut fiber accounts for 30%, or about a third, of the weight of a coconut. This material is generally left in plantations and remains largely unused, potentially polluting the environment. With Indonesian coconut production reaching approximately 2.9 million tons per year, or 15.13 million coconuts per year, the potential for coconut fiber production is enormous, amounting to approximately 1 million wet tons (average moisture content of 60%) or 500,000 dry tons (10%) of moisture.

The volume of coconut husk is largely unaffected by the government's recent policy of exporting whole coconuts, particularly to China, as shown in this video. Many coconut-based industries are struggling to secure raw material supplies, even leading to factory closures. Industries such as dessicated coconut, coconut milk, coconut shell charcoal and charcoal briquettes, and activated carbon are severely impacted by this policy. Selling processed or industrialized coconut products would clearly add greater value and create jobs. Developed countries also export finished or semi-finished goods, not raw materials.

The industrialization of coconut-based products is crucial. Like palm oil, coconut processing products are primarily used for food products. Utilization for energy or biofuel is also very possible, such as for sustainable aviation fuel or SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel). Even for palm oil, the use of biofuel is in the form of a mandatory blend of palm oil from CPO (crude palm oil) in biodiesel 40% this year and is being reviewed to be 50% (B50) by 2026, as well as palm oil from PKO (palm kernel oil) for a 3% blend for sustainable aviation fuel or SAF in 2026. The main content of coconut oil is lauric acid, the same as palm kernel oil or PKO. Lauric acid consisting of 12 carbon atoms (C) or MCFA (medium chain fatty acids) is very suitable for the use of sustainable aviation fuel or SAF must have a carbon atom bond or C bond in the range of C10-C15, for more details read here.

 

Coconut productivity continues to decline due to inadequate or slow replanting programs. A similar situation is also experienced by oil palms (for more details, read here), and this presents a unique obstacle. The area of ​​coconut plantations that needs replanting also reaches tens or even hundreds of thousands of hectares. For example, in Riau Province, the target is 43,388 hectares of coconut plantations to be rejuvenated by 2025. In addition to increasing coconut productivity through the use of superior seeds, intensification is also necessary. High coconut productivity and high selling prices are driving this replanting.

Utilizing or producing biochar from coconut fiber is a solution to increase sustainable coconut productivity. Biochar can also significantly support organic coconut plantations. Although coconut trees are generally not fertilized adequately or even not at all, they still bear fruit. Biochar increases fertilizer use efficiency because biochar acts as a slow-release fertilizer agent. Regarding fertilization, coconuts differ significantly from oil palms, which require fertilization for fruiting and are highly dependent on chemical fertilizers. In fact, fertilization is the highest cost component in oil palm plantations. Organic coconut products produce desirable derivative products with high selling prices.

The potential revenue from carbon credits is also very attractive. To obtain carbon credits, or BCR (Biochar Carbon Removal), the biochar application, including the production process, must be verified by a carbon standards agency. Carbon standards agencies such as Puro Earth, Verra, and CSI have developed methodologies that biochar producers must follow to obtain these credits. 

Calophyllum Tree and Coconut Tree

Calophyllum trees and coconut trees have something in common, namely that they can grow well in coastal areas, all parts of the tree can be used and bear fruit throughout the year. With the length of the coastline of Indonesia reaching 99,093 km, it is very potential to develop these two plants. The calophyllum tree has non-edible oil but its productivity is almost the same as palm oil or crude palm oil (CPO), so it is very potential for biodiesel production. Whereas palm oil trees are the largest producer of vegetable oil. Why not biodiesel production from Jatropha ? For more detailed answers, read here. Meanwhile, coconut trees which are well known as multi-benefit plants are certainly very strategic and have the potential to be developed, especially now that the coconut tree population continues to decline due to the lack of replanting of old coconut plantations. Unlike the calophyllum tree, all the results are not food products, many processed coconut products are in the form of food products. The need for processed coconut food products continues to increase along with the increasing population. Issues of food and energy can also be overcome at the same time with these two plants.

The productivity of calophyllum is around 30 years, while coconut is longer, reaching around 80 years. Calophyllum tree wood has a high economic value as well as coconut trees. When the productive period of the two plants continues to produce fruit and when productivity decreases or stops, the wood becomes the ultimate product of high economic value. When compared to palm oil trees when their productive age runs out, the wood or trunk in general is still a problem, not even a few are just left in the plantation because it is not economical to process further, more details can be read here. Meanwhile, other forestry woods usually take decades before they can be harvested and there are no other products besides the wood. Of course, this is quite economically difficult and sometimes even not feasible.

Photo is taken from here

Calophyllum trees and coconut trees are also easy and inexpensive to care for, unlike palm oil trees which require a lot of water and fertilizer. Both also support agroforestry on the coast, as well as being a wind breaker. This encourages faster economic growth in coastal areas, and even becomes a tourist destination. Furthermore, for agroforestry systems, one of them can be distinguished based on its function, namely into a production function and a protection function. Production functions such as food production, feed, fuel such as biodiesel, fiber, wood and others. Meanwhile, protection functions such as prevention from damage to environmental resources as well as maintenance of production system such as hedges, water retention, fire prevention, soil and water conservation. 

The choice of plant species is very important in making agroforestry patterns, because mistakes that occur will have a long and detrimental impact. Species that are suitable not only in terms of growth, economic value and adaptability to a particular environment, but also their ability to form an ideal growth structure when growing together with other species on the same land. The choice of this type is very dependent on the wishes of the land owner, the conditions of the place to grow, the economic value and the ease of cultivation.

Biochar for Coconut Plantation

The productivity of Indonesian coconuts is decreasing so that even though it has the largest coconut plantation area in the world. This of course makes the land less productive and the production from coconut plantations is also low. As a comparison, the productivity of Indian coconut reaches 300 grains per tree or 7.5 times that of Indonesia, which averages only 40 grains per tree per year. In addition, the number of coconut plantations that must be replanted is very large and is not proportional to the speed of replanting. Due to the lack of maintenance, there were also many areas of damaged coconut plantations, which in total reached hundreds of thousands hectares.

Indonesia has experienced the critical condition of coconut and now many coconut producing countries in the Asia Pacific region are experiencing a similar condition. Most of the coconut trees that exist are trees planted in the decade after the first world war or in the 1930s, even though the age of the coconut is around 80 years. This means that the tree is more than 80 years old or has passed its productive period. FAO has even given this warning since 2013. As a consequence, industries are experiencing a severe shortage of raw material supplies amid the increasing demand for coconut-based products, as experienced by the Sambu Group. Sambu group is the largest coconut industry in Indonesia which is located in Riau which has had to buy the coconut raw materials from West Kalimantan province in the last two years. Though Riau province itself is the largest coconut producer in Indonesia, especially Indragiri Hilir regency.

Overcoming the crisis, of course, takes time and is neither fast nor easy. A number of structured, systematic and massive efforts need to be done consistently to get optimal results and according to goals. As a product which is mainly for food and added all its parts that can be utilized, overcoming the crisis of coconut plantations or the upstream sector of the coconut industry is important. In addition, the expansion of the coconut plantation area also needs to be increased to around 6 million hectares so that the supply for industry is sufficient, in comparison Indonesia's palm oil plantations have reached around 14 million hectares. Of course that is the next step after replanting and repairing damaged coconut plantations can be overcomed. 

To increase coconut productivity, apart from the use of superior seeds, there are also adequate agricultural cultivation techniques. It is very important to improve soil quality so that plants can optimize nutrient uptake. No matter how good the seeds are, if the soil quality is low and farming techniques or cultivation techniques are perfunctory, the results will also not be optimal. For example, on acid soils that make nutrient absorption low and also the soil microbial activity, whatever the plant will not grow optimally. Biochar as a soil amendment is effective and efficient to improve the quality of the coconut plantation soil. Although coconut is a plant that is resistant to salinity, a decrease in salinity will also have a good impact on the coconut tree, and this can also be done with the application of biochar.

Like palm oil, coconut industrialization should also be possible. With this industrialization, the production process becomes efficient and all the coconut fruit harvested from the plantation can be processed all. Population growth that continues to increase and it is estimated that the world's population will reach around 10 billion by 2050 certainly requires sufficient food and various other supporting things such as edible oil and other coconut-derived products. Pyrolysis technology is very good for use in the coconut processing industry. This is in addition to biochar as the main product of pyrolysis with its main use in coconut plantations, excess energy pyrolysis can be used for various needs of the coconut processing industry, both in the form of heat and electricity. Coconut processing products are much more numerous and varied than palm oil. An industry will also need a continuous supply of raw materials with a certain amount and this means that the performance level of its coconut plantations must be maintained in such a way as to meet the needs of the industry and biochar application is the right solution.

Integration of Pyrolysis with Cocopeat and Cocofiber Industries

The high demand for cocofiber and cocopeat in the world which reaches thousands of containers per year should be a golden opportunity and a driving force for the Indonesian coconut industry. There are a number of potential advantages of Indonesia which should be at the forefront of capturing and exploiting these opportunities. These advantages include, from 196 countries in the world, only 8 countries control 90% of the world's coconut demand, Indonesia as the owner of the largest coconut plantation in the world, which is around 3.8 million hectares with a production of more than 15 billion coconuts fruit every year, and strategic geographical position. This is also the reason why the ICC (International Coconut Community) or an international organization concerned that the members of which are coconut producing countries is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia. The island of Sumatra is the center of the largest coconut plantation in Indonesia, especially Indragiri Hilir regency in Riau province, followed by the islands of Sulawesi, Java, Maluku and Papua, Nusa Tenggara and Bali, and Kalimantan. The current condition, although with a number of advantages above and the quality of Indonesian coconut coir is high and the price of this coir is cheap, it turns out that Indonesia still supplies less than 5% of the world's cocofiber and cocopeat needs.

To seize these opportunities, of course, one cannot only rely on the potentials, but also on effective and efficient production technology. One of the main obstacles in increasing cocofiber and cocopeat production capacity is the drying aspect. The production of cocofiber and cocopeat can be boosted in such a way if the efficient drying aspect can be carried out. And for drying, heat energy is absolutely necessary. This heat energy can be obtained cheaply from the excess energy of the pyrolysis process. In addition to producing the main product in the form of biochar, excess energy from the pyrolysis process can be relied on as an energy source or heat source for the coconut coir processing industry. A certain type of dryer according to the characteristics of the material being dried must also be used. With modern dryers such as belt dryers, tray dryers and drum dryers, in addition to the high drying capacity, the product quality will also be standard and stable.

Meanwhile, for the pyrolysis process, raw materials are needed in the form of biomass wastes that are widely available in that location, even the biomass waste can vary according to its availability which sometimes depends on the season. In certain cases, it is also possible for pyrolysis to be integrated with an integrated coconut industry, so that coconut shell becomes the raw material. Meanwhile, if the location of the coconut plantation is not far from the palm oil plantation, biomass wastes from the plantation or palm oil mill can be used for the pyrolysis. Even like the palm oil trunk, if it is not used and only left to rot in the plantation, it invites insects that disturb the coconut plantation. For more details, you can read it here. The integration of the pyrolysis industry and coconut coir processing in addition to reducing environmental pollution due to biomass waste is also a solution for the coconut coir industry. The relationship between the two industries must be mutually beneficial, namely the pyrolysis industry can sell its excess energy at a competitive price and the coconut coir industry can increase its production.