National Coconut Production Program — PCA’s Answer To Low Coconut Ouput
Under the stewardship of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Administrator Oscar Garin recently announced the full implementation of the National Coconut Program, PCA’s answer to the country’s low coconut output. Last year’s coconut output was recorded at 2.3 million MT while this year’s output is projected at 2.43 million MT. The said program is made up of three major projects namely, soil fertilization, participatory coconut planting and plowable/intercropping.

“Of these three projects, we’re currently focusing on salt fertilization heavily because this is the most immediate of our concerns,” Garin disclosed. “We are fertilizing io million trees with common organic salt, which is the best and cheapest fertilizer in terms of cost and labor. Ate kilos per tree, we are expecting a yield of two kilos more of copra per tree. With an investment of P15 per tree, we are projecting farmers to earn an additional income of Php60 per tree.” The PCA Administrator adds that the target is to fertilize 135 million trees by the end of the year in order to respond to the country’s requirements for coco biodiesel and recover from the recent devastation of coconut farms brought about by typhoons.

Secondly, Administrator Garin is also happy to announce the implementation of the participatory coconut planting project by giving incentives to farmers in order for them to be encouraged to plant coconut trees and put up their own nurseries. “Under this project,” Garin said, “farmers are entitled to Php7 per seed nut, and this figure will increase if they are able to grow the tree at a certain height. Assuming that farmers grow them well, our estimate is that they can earn as much as Php25,000 per hectare.”

Thirdly, PCA’s plowable and intercropping project encourages farmers to plow their land in order to increase their production between 15% and 20%. Experts said mere plowing or cultivation of the soil can improve soil condition, aeration and encourage the growth of root system. “Of course part of the program is to intercrop the coconut trees with high value crops like corn, peanuts, mungbean, etc. In this way, farmers will earn more and we are also responding to the government’s hunger mitigation program.”

In the meantime, Administrator Garin is also happy to announce the development of the coco sugar, which experts believe is the best sugar for diabetics because of its low glycymic index-35. “It’s a breakthrough, an eat-all-you-can sugar that does not affect our blood sugar levels.”

INVESTMENT IN COCO SECTOR URGED

The Philippine Coconut Authority has urged the private sector to invest in the P40-billion coconut industry to help the country recover the 300,000 metric tons in copra production lost in 2006.

At the recent National Coconut Productivity forum, PCA Deputy Administrator Carlos B. Carpio said the agency was implementing three programs to increase coconut output.

These are salt fertilization, participatory coconut planting and intercropping, Carpio said in his presentation.

Carpio explained that these projects were aimed at recovering production lost due to typhoons in 2006 and bring output back to the 2005 level of 2.6 million MT in copra terms.

This year, coconut production is seen to expand by 9 percent to 2.566 million tons in copra terms from last year's 2.357 million MT.

Increased production from these programs were also seen to help the industry meet the mandatory 1-2 percent blend in biodiesel, which will need at least 200,000 MT in copra terms he added.

Salt fertilization project refers to fertilizing each coconut tree with two kilos of salt every year to increase yield by as much as 25 percent in the first year and 50-100 percent after the second year.

In 2009, the government estimates it will need to shell out another P2.59 billion to fertilize 185,000 trees. By this year, the coconut sector can already expect and incremental yield of 270,000 tons worth some P6.75 billion.

By the end of 2014, Carpio said the sector can expect some 1.48 million tons in incremental yield worth some P37 billion, from a total projected investment of P7.7 billion in the salt fertilization project.

Meanwhile, the participatory coconut planting project encourages coconut farmers to sell good seed nuts and seedlings to the PCA, and at the same time, allow them to earn as much as P30 for every planted coconut tree.

The PCA is also implementing the intercropping project, which encourages farmer to plant cash crops such as corn, peanut, mung bean, banana and malunggay in between the coconut trees.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
September 1, 2008