Sodium chloride, an ideal fertilizer for coconut palms in Indonesia.

With reference to the results of various trials in Indonesia, the merits of sodium chloride as a fertilizer for coconuts are discussed. Coconut palms display a considerable response to sodium chloride applications, as regards all the yield variables(growth, flowering, number of nuts, nut size, phytosanitary condition, resistance to water stress), at all stages (from the nursery to a bearing plantation), and under a wide variety of soil and climatic conditions. The costeffectiveness of sodium chloride applications, which exists virtually everywhere in Indonesia, increases in zones with a water deficit, since sodium chloride attenuates the effect of water stress, thereby regularizing production in coconut plantations. Sodium chloride can be used tolargely replace potassium chloride; it is much cheaper and readily available. Sodium chloride is therefore set to become the main component in fertilization for coconut plantations in Indonesia.