Cement group bankrolls copra drying facilities

Coconut farmers in at least nine towns in the Visayas and Mindanao will now be assured of higher income using more efficient drying facilities set up through the assistance of the Philippine cement industry.

In a move that further concretized their corporate social responsibility commit-ments, key members of the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CeMAP) have offered to bank-roll the cost of the cement components of eight copra-drying facilities to be constructed in collaboration with the Centro Saka Inc., an agriculture-based non-government organization.

CeMAP chairman Renato Sunico recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Centro Saka executive director Romeo Royandoyan formalizing the cement industry’s bid to help improve the coconut farmers’ quality of life through the construction of copra dryers.

Eight farmers’ cooperatives were identified as prospective beneficiaries of the copra dryers to be built in Rasay, Samar; Calbayog, Samar; Maasin, Leyte; Guihulngan, Negros Oriental; Bindoy, Negros Oriental; Toril, Davao’ Tandag, Surigao del Sur; and Parang, Maguindanao.

The Coconut Farmers Asso-ciation of Southern Leyte based in Maasin and Hinundayan towns and headed by Rodolfo Juinio as chairman, became the first beneficiary of the CeMAP outreach project.

CeMAP president Ernesto Ordonez said the copra dryers, costing P50,000 each, would enable the farmers to increase their average annual income of P10,000 by about P3,136, repre-senting a 31-percent growth.

Ordonez also underscored the urgent need to introduce efficient post-harvest facilities, not only in the coconut industry, but also in other sectors of agriculture to speed up economic growth in the countryside.

A study showed that a coconut farmer normally earns an average of P10,000 from a one-hectare plantation using the antiquated drying processes. The farmers generally lose about 80 centavos per kilogram (kg.) selling their copra in pasada (with high moisture content) form to local cooperatives who in turn sell it to the oil mills.

By using the copra dryer at a minimal cost of five centavos per kilo, the farmers can re-cover P0.75 which translates to an average savings of P3,146 a year based on an estimated average harvest of 933 kg per hectare.

One copra dryer can service some 200 farmers covering 300 hectares.

“Assuming the cooperative charges five centavos per kilo service fee to the farmer, and returns all its profits from the increased value of dried versus wet copra to the farmer, then the net revenue advantage for the farmer is 75 centa-vos. This results in an increased income for the 200 farmers of P629,250 a year. This is 12.6 times the value of the copra dryer,” the CeMAP pointed out.