Paper prepared for TAC by G. J. Persley of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) on the importance of coconut as a smallholder crop, the needs and opportunities for research, priority areas for international coconut research, and institutional options. Persley proposes the establishment of an International Coconut Research Council.This shorter version of two papers on coconut by Persley dated June 1990 was the one considered by TAC 52. Coconut was also discussed at TAC46 and TAC 50