Government readies nationwide coconut replanting program

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture plans to implement a nationwide coconut replanting program amid the problems besetting the industry, the country’s top earner among agricultural products.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol is set to convene the governing board of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to address the plummeting price of copra.

“The proposed national coconut replanting program will involve the coconut farmers themselves who will identify the most prolific coconut they have in their farm from which seed nuts can be selected upon validation by PCA technicians,“ Piñol said.

“The PCA will also be asked to present its available funds which may be used in implementing immediate interventions to address the economic woes of the coconut farmers and workers,“ he added.

Pinol explained that each seed nut propagated by the farmer would be valued at P25 which will be paid for by the government and which in turn could be planted by the farmer in his own farm or turned over to the PCA for distribution to other farmers.

The program, which targets an initial area of one million hectares for replanting, is seen to take 120 million nuts out of the copra market.

“I believe this program can provide temporary employment for coconut farm workers over the next five years as the industry shifts from copra production to the development of high value products from coconut,“ Piñol said.

With the national coconut replanting program, the Philippines is hopeful it can reclaim its status as the world’s top coconut producer.

Piñol said the Philippines could once again be among the top coconut producing countries in the world in the next 10 years following the development of high-yielding and versatile coconut varieties.

This can also be achieved with the release of coco levy funds and the adoption of a five-year coconut industry roadmap.

The Philippines continues to lose opportunities to Thailand in the highly-lucrative market of other high-value coconut products.