DA, PCA PREPARE ROAD MAP
FOR COCO INDUSTRY REHAB
By Manny Piñol
With the issues on rice and vegetable prices addressed, the Department of Agriculture is now focused on another ailing industry, the Coconut Industry which is handled by an agency which, along with the National Food Authority, was just recently returned to the DA.
The Coconut Industry, which once was the top dollar earner among the agricultural products of the Philippines, is now in the doldrums.
Among the problems confronting the Coconut Sector now are:
– Very low prices of Copra, the raw material used to produce coconut oil;
– Coconut Scale Insect infestation which destroyed millions of coconut trees in the Bicol Region, Basilan, Zamboanga and now, Romblon;
– Slow replanting program to replace senile and very tall trees in many parts of the country which resulted in very low productivity;
– Failure of the PCA to adjust to the needs of the market losing out to Thailand in the Coco Water business;
– Failure of government to explore other income opportunities in the Coconut Sector like Coco Coir production which is in demand now because of Greenhouse Farming and others;
– Obsession on the Coco Levy Fund issue which virtually stalled all efforts to rehabilitate and revive the coconut industry.
On Wednesday, I convened the PCA Governing Board as the new Chairman to start working on the issues and problems confronting the coconut industry.
It was the second meeting of the PCA Governing Board which I presided since the PCA was returned to the DA along with the NFA and the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA).
In attendance were the PCA Administrator, Romulo dela Rosa, and six of the seven board members.
It was then when I found out that after all of these years, the Coconut Industry does not have an updated development plan to chart its direction and guide the stakeholders.
This, I believe, was the reason why government failed to anticipate changes in the market demands and in addressing issues like the Cocolisap infestation.
During the second PCA Governing Council meeting Wednesday, I asked the PCA to gather stakeholders and draft a 5-year Road Map to set the direction in rehabilitating and reviving the coconut industry which has been hit by very low copra prices, delay in the implementation of the replanting program and the failure to explore other income-earning opportunities in the industry.
The PCA was directed to allocate P10-M for the drafting of the Coconut Industry Road Map in what could be considered as the first attempt by government to give focus to the industry which involves almost 5 million farming families.
(Photos of the PCA governing board meeting were taken by a PCA staff while file photos of coconut trees were downloaded from public websites.)
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