Coconut palm (Cocos Nucifera) is one of Sri Lanka’s three major export crops and it grows in most parts of Sri Lanka except in higher elevations. Most of the coconut is concentrated in the triangle formed by Puttalam, Kurunegala and Gampaha.
This area covered by these three towns is referred to as the “Coconut Triangle”. Known for its great versatility, coconut tree is one of the most important trees in Sri Lanka, may the guidelines be economical or cultural. Forming the general vegetation that covers the grounds of Sri Lanka, it is hard to notice a sky patch not crowded by the towering, majestic figures of coconut trees with a crown of leaves spreading towards the heavens.
Sri Lankan lifestyle has been inextricably intertwined with the coconut tree, not just for the milk, water and oil giving nut, but to the leaves to the trunk to the fibrous husk that surrounds the coconut. There is no part of the coconut tree that goes to waste in a Sri Lankan household. Everything in between the coconut shell and the outer coating of the coconut seed is known as the husk, where all coir products, including the coco peat are extracted.
In the past, when coconuts were harvested for their delicious meat and juice, the coconut husk was considered a waste product. All the material from the husk to the inner shell of the coconut was a discarded product…until people realized it had many applications in gardening and home products.