Finding solutions

LOW COPRA PRICE TACKLED

IN PCA BOARD MEET NOV. 8

By Manny Piñol

The Governing Board of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) will meet for the third time on Thursday since PCA was placed back under the Department of Agriculture to discuss problems besetting the coconut industry.

High on the agenda of the meeting which I will presided as the PCA Chairman will be the very low price of Copra, the main product of the industry, which is the source of income for about 4-million farmers and about the same number of workers.

I have directed Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano of the Policy and Planning Office to ask the PCA Administrator Romulo dela Rosa to present during the board meeting measures already undertaken by the agency in addressing the low prices of Copra.

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

I will also present to the PCA Board a proposal which I believe could help relieve the problem of Copra oversupply while at the same time implement a nationwide coconut replanting program.

The proposed National Coconut Replanting Program will involve the coconut farmers themselves who will identify the most prolific Coconut that they have in their farm from which seed nuts could be selected upon validation by PCA technicians.

Each seed nut propagated by the farmer will be valued at P25 which will be paid for by 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.

Targeting an initial area of 1-million hectares for replanting, this program could take out from the Copra market 120-million nuts and in the process infuse about P3-B into the industry which is the equivalent value of the seed nuts.

In addition to that, I believe this program could 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 the Coconut.

Supported by the hybridization program of the PCA, the Coconut National Replanting Program could place the country back in its previous ranking as the world’s top coconut producer.

Aside from this proposal, I will also ask the PCA to look into reports of massive smuggling of Copra and Palm Oil from at least two countries through the southern ports of Mindanao.

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

#SupportingTheCocoFarmer!

#Changeishere!

(First photo shows seedlings of Aromatic Coconut ideal for coconut water production. Second photo shows the MATAG Hybrid, described by the PCA as the champion variety of the Philippines now. Succeeding photos show coconut seedlings and nuts being readied for distribution. Photos by DA AFID Biyaheng Bukid)