Genetic improvement of the coconut cultivar san Ramon

Abstract

The tall form of coconut, San Ramon was imported to Sri Lanka from the Philippines and was first established in the North Western province. The open pollinated seed obtained from the first introduction and planted at the Coconut Research Institute (CRI) from the genetic base for SanRamon improvement at present. This cultivar inherits the potential of producing 51%more copra per nut than Sri Lanka tall palms and 50% more copra per nut than the improved tall, CRIC 60. The mean copra yield per nut recorded for San Ramon (selfed), Sri Lanka tall and CRIC 60 was 371g, 240g and 246g respectively. Preliminary investigations have shown that the oil extraction efficiency of copra is 776 ml per Kg of copra for tall x San Ramon whilst for both Sri Lanka tall and CRIC 60, it is 740 ml. The results of this study strongly justify the use of San Ramon and its corsses for copra and oil industry in Sri Lanka