LOANS, LIVELIHOOD PROGRAMS
SET FOR COCO, RUBBER FARMERS
By Manny Piñol
Coconut and rubber farmers, two sectors hardly hit by very low market prices, will now benefit from the loaning and livelihood programs of the Department of Agriculture.
Following the return of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to its Mother Agency, the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) and the Agriculture and Fisheries Machinery and Equipment Loaning Programs of the DA could now be extended coconut farmers.
The livelihood programs could include processing husks into materials for Greenhouse Farming which needs a lot of Coco Coir and coconut shells processed into charcoal briquettes or other industrial uses.
What is needed to intensify Coco Coir production for export is the establishment of processing facilities and disinfection equipment like an Irradiation Machine which only the government could afford.
Buyers of Coco Coir require that the materials are disinfected and Irradiation is considered as the best and most effective process for disinfection.
An Irradiation Machine, which costs about P350-M per unit, could be established in Common Service Facilities areas in at least four coconut growing regions of the country.
Coconut farm workers, on the other hand, could be taught to grow high value vegetables under the coconut trees or raise backyard native pigs or chicken.
All of these could be done while government undertakes a massive replanting program of new coconut varieties which could start bearing fruit in three years.
Rubber farmers, including industry workers like Tappers, could also avail of the livelihood and loaning programs of the DA to tide them over as the sector reels from very low buying prices of raw rubber called Cuplumps.
From a high of almost P100 per kilo eight years ago, raw rubber prices have dropped to only about P25 per kilo now forcing farmers to abandon their rubber farms and workers losing jobs.
Just like the coconut farmers, the rubber farmers and workers could be introduced to other farming activities while the DA is working on the establishment of manufacturing facilities, including a Tire Factory in Mindanao, to ensure a stable local market for rubber products.
The Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), the agency of the DA which handles rural credit, will be tasked to draft the loaning programs for both coconut and rubber farmers.
The Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program, on the other hand, will be tasked with handling the livelihood components.
(Photos of the coconut and rubber farmers downloaded from public websites.)
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