The origin of this versatile plant is a subject of dispute. Several theories, based on the occurrence of fossils, direction of sea currents and routes of navigation, the ability of coconuts to germinate having floated in the sea for about 110 days and evolution and dissemination of the coconut palm, have been developed for its origin.
One theory locates the origin of the coconut palm somewhere at the northern end of the Andes in South America, the other indicates Southeast Asia as its homeland.
The findings of fossil coconuts in the dry deserts of Rajasthan in India, ranging in age from 15 to 40 million years indicate the history of coconut palm and complexity in determining its origin.
The distribution of coconut in the early era may have been carried out by the sea water through floatation.
Later, Polynesian, Malayan and Arab navigators have played an important role in further distribution of coconut.
The early European navigators contributed their share in further dissemination of the coconut carrying it from Asia and Eats Asia to West Africa, the Atlantic coast of America and the Caribbean.
Origin of Coconut
