The coconut farmers of Misamis Oriental, including Northern Mindanao, are a lucky lot.
A former Virginia Tobacco Drying Facility owned by Philip Morris International which was turned over to the Provincial Government when the company ceased operations in Claveria town will soon be a modern coconut processing facility which would produce at least 11 high value products.
Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny “Bambi” Emano said the P500-M facility with 150 steam drying chambers originally intended to dry tobacco will boost the coconut industry of the province with about 10-million productive trees.
The drying chambers will be used to produce clean White Copra with the husks processed into Coco Fiber and Coco Peat and the shells into Coco Charcoal Briquettes.
Other high value products include Coco Syrup, Coco Sugar and Coco Alcohol.
All in all, he said, the facility will turn out 11 high value products from coconuts which in turn would translate to a higher buying price of P25 per nut from the farmer.
Last week, during the visit of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) team to the facility, Gov. Emano and his technical advisers also addressed a major problem which confronted the operation of the Italian designed and made drying chambers – the cost of power to produce the steam.
With the help of MinDA, the use of a locally designed and fabricated bio-mass boiler made by Mindanao inventor Engr. Rudy Cane was introduced.
The bio-mass boiler which earned the Outstanding Mindanao Invention for Cane, younger brother of Agusan del Sur Governor Santiago Cane, will greatly reduce the power cost and make the project viable.
“We thank Philip Morris for their generosity in turning over this modern facility to the province. This would now be an instrument in improving the lives of the coconut farmers not only in Misamis Oriental but also Northern Mindanao,” Gov. Emano said.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
(This video presentation was prepared by the media team of the Mindanao Development Authority.)
https://fb.watch/aAxZzcqfF6/
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