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Physiology and Biochemistry

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The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera L.) - Research and Development Perspectives

Abstract

Coconut palms are grown in diverse environments in different tropical regions of the world. Palms experience several cycles of different stresses during their life period and respond to external factors at morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. Significant developments are made in unravelling the physiological and biochemical mechanisms underlying the productivity performance of coconut in various agroclimatic conditions. Delineating the seedling and adult palm growth, dry matter partitioning, compositional changes in developing nuts, oil and fatty acid profile in germplasm, drought tolerance mechanism, in situ drought-tolerant palms, responses to root (wilt) disease, drought management strategies, response to climatic parameters and climate change impact and adaptations are important milestones in this area of research. Further efforts eventually led to the development of InfoCrop-COCONUT model for simulating growth, development and yield, opening new vistas in research programmes for improving coconut management for higher yields. Since climate change is projected to have positive and negative impacts on coconut yield depending on the region, it is important to use advanced technologies for harnessing positive impacts while countering measures for overcoming the negative effects. This chapter summarizes the major research understandings in physiology and biochemistry of coconut palms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environment Science and Climate Resilient Agriculture, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

    S. Naresh Kumar

  2. ICAR-CPCRI, Kasaragod, Kerala, India

    K. B. Hebbar, K. V. Kasturi Bai & V. Rajagopal

  3. Society for Hunger Elimination, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India

    V. Rajagopal

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  3. K. V. Kasturi Bai
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  4. V. Rajagopal
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Correspondence to S. Naresh Kumar .

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  1. ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Regional Station, Kayamkulam, Kerala, India

    V. Krishnakumar

  2. Retired Chief Coconut Development Officer, Coconut Development Board, Government of India, Kerala, India

    P. K. Thampan

  3. Retired Professor of Agronomy and Director (Academic), Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala, India

    M. Achuthan Nair

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Naresh Kumar, S., Hebbar, K.B., Kasturi Bai, K.V., Rajagopal, V. (2018). Physiology and Biochemistry. In: Krishnakumar, V., Thampan, P., Nair, M. (eds) The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera L.) - Research and Development Perspectives. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2754-4_9

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