A high-level discussion on the future of Indonesia's coconut sector was held in Yogyakarta, 10 October 2025, underscoring the vital role of research and technology in saving the struggling industry. The event, titled "The Development of Research on Bamboo and Coconut Seedling in Indonesia," was hosted by Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning (Kementerian PPN/BAPPENAS) at the Forestry Seedling Center Region III, Yogyakarta (BPTH Wilayah III Yogyakarta). The seminar brought together senior government officials and researchers to align strategies for large-scale replanting and industrial transformation.
Coconut as a National Strategic Commodity
Opening the seminar was Dr. Jarot Indarto, Director of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS), Republic of Indonesia, who presented on the "Development of Bamboo and Coconut Seedling Research in Indonesia." He highlighted that coconut is a National Strategic Commodity under the National Long-Term Development Plan (RPJPN) 2025-20455. The national industrial strategy aims for Indonesia to be "Manufacturing the World" by 2040-2045, with coconut downstreaming included from the second stage onwards. Dr. Indarto stressed that tissue culture is a powerful method to produce superior seedlings that offer higher yields, better quality, and resistance to pests. He called for deeper research into tissue culture and other propagation methods, emphasizing the need for synergy among experts, government agencies, and development partners.
The Need for a 2045 Global Leadership Vision
Mr. Sukmo Harsono, S.E., M.M., Head of the Coconut Downstreaming Program Planning and Acceleration Team, Ministry of Development Planning (BAPPENAS), Republic Indonesia, presented his team's agenda in developing the development of coconut seedling research. His presentation was based on the "Coconut Downstreaming Roadmap (Peta Jalan Hilirisasi Kelapa) 2025-2045", which sets the vision for Indonesia to become a "global leader in the downstreaming of coconut and its derivatives" by 2045. Despite being the world's second-largest coconut producer, Indonesia has been surpassed by the Philippines in both production volume and export value since 2020. The major challenges faced by Indonesia include stagnant productivity at 1.1 tons per hectare, and 98.82% of farms being traditional without organized regeneration efforts. With 375,039 hectares of non-producing or old palms, the country’s current replanting rate is far too slow. The strategy includes optimizing the research commercialization ecosystem, aiming for research patents to be licensed to industry partners and providing incentives like the Super Tax Deduction (STD) for businesses that cooperate with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).
Tackling the Seed Gap
The severity of the replanting crisis was presented by Dr. Ir. I Ketut Kariyasa, M.Si., Head of the Center for Plantation Agriculture Assembly and Modernization Center (Pusat Perakitan dan Modernisasi Pertanian Perkebunan), Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Indonesia, in his talk on "Policy And Realization Development of Coconut Seedling in Indonesia." He noted that the availability of coconut seedlings is tied to four main government programs for 2024-2029, including food security and downstreaming. Dr. Kariyasa revealed a massive seed gap: the estimated 375,039 hectares of damaged or old coconut land requires approximately 53.5 million seedlings. However, the national potential for certified seed production is only about 6 million seeds per year. At this rate, it will take roughly nine years to meet the current replanting needs alone. To address this, the Ministry of Agriculture plans to increase the stock of planting material in major coconut provinces, such as Riau, which is currently the largest center with 440 thousand hectares.
BRIN's Focus for Future Coconut Varieties
Dr. Puji Lestari, Research Organization for Agriculture and Food, National Innovation and Research Agency (BRIN), in a presentation on "Coconut Commodity Research In Indonesia", BRIN's research focuses are divided into four main areas: Conservation (creating a national gene bank), Breeding and Genetics (producing new superior varieties that are high-yield and resistant to drought and pests), Biotechnology and Tissue Culture (developing Somatic Embryogenesis for fast propagation), and Technology for Seed Production (optimizing certified seed gardens)2 The global market potential for coconut products is huge, projected to reach USD 38.5 billion by 2030. Despite this, challenges remain, including low productivity and ongoing issues with pests like Oryctes rhinoceros. Governement through the Ministry of Agrculture has already released 60 coconut varieties, including 18 dwarf, 32 tall, and 10 hybrid varieties, but recognizes that the implementation of rapid tissue culture technology remains limited.
New Plant Technology: Key to Survival
Dr. Jelfina C. Alouw, Director General, International Coconut Community (ICC), in her presentation, “Tissue Culture Development, Cooperation, and Technology Transfer Boost Coconut Seed Propagation”, mentioned that the future of the global coconut industry, valued at an estimated US$19.61 billion, is facing a major crisis because its trees are too old and senile. She highlighted the "Coconut Paradox": while the global market for coconut products is huge and growing, the industry's basic resource, the coconut palm, is collapsing. Over 274 million coconut trees worldwide are now old causing harvests to drop sharply, in some places by up to 80 percent. Indonesia alone has about 46.1 million senile palms. Dr. Alouw stressed that countries do not have enough seeds to replace these old trees quickly, creating a serious "seed gap".
She emphasized coconut tissue culture as the necessary solution. This advanced technology is vital for rapid, mass propagation of elite planting materials, which couldn’t achieve by a traditional seed planting. The tissue culture method allows researchers to create genetically pure, disease-free clones from high-value varieties (such as those for kopyor or high oil yield), ensuring a future generation of resilient, high-productivity palms capable of weathering threats like pests, diseases, and climate stress. She encouraged collaboration through global groups like the Coconut Genetic Resources Networks (COGENT) is very important to quickly share and use this proven technology in large farms and to finalize fully developed in vitro regeneration protocols and accelerate technology transfer. Research institutions from India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, and Belgium are actively engaged, but the process requires greater funding and a more robust exchange of technical expertise and genetic resources to ensure that the proven technology can be rapidly adopted and scaled up into commercial operations and industry.
By leveraging innovative coconut tissue culture technology and strengthening global inter-agency cooperation, the focus is to bridge the seed gap, revitalize Indonesia's massive coconut land, and secure its future as a global leader in high-value coconut products by 2045.