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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider Coconut country

Coconut country

Published Jun 25, 2023 04:01 pm

#MINDANAO


Reflecting further on our agricultural statistics, it is clear that we are a coconut country, with the versatile palm among our most important crops. We harvest almost 15 million tons a year from an area at 3.5 million hectares while engaging the largest total number of farmers at 2.5 million. The Philippines is the world’s third largest coconut producer, with coconut products our largest export. These numbers alone show that we grow coconuts well, and better than many other countries. This also means it does not cost as much to do so, and that the skill needed to grow and harvest coconuts is deep and abundant in the populace. Knowing these things, there are two questions before us. The first is what we can do to boost the volume and value of these nuts to increase the revenue of the 2.5 million farmers. The second is how we can create opportunities for millions more by processing these nuts into other products. At the moment, coconut’s gross value added is still a bit limited at around ₱80 to ₱84 billion comprising anywhere from 4.5 to five percent of agriculture’s Gross Value Added. This means that there is still a lot of value it can create by engaging technologies and investment that can boost the benefit of the proverbial tree of life, such as products like soap and oleochemicals. Knowing its potential to create wealth in the rural areas and provide livelihoods for millions, boosting the industry is a low-hanging fruit that can increase rural and urban incomes. To pursue the development of the coconut and palm industry, the Philippine Coconut Authority was created in 1973. As it celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, the key question is how this agency can harness the coconut industry’s development over the next 50 years will be interesting. Here are some ideas I would like to pitch. Strengthening our coconut industry through the Coconut Farmers Industry Development Plan (CFIDP)and the national registry of coconut farmers is a good start so that we can effectively target the farms and farmers that need assistance to increase the volume of their production. The other is incentivizing the creation of related industries that can help our coconut industry go beyond copra will mean jobs for millions more. We can do this by broadening the value chain and adding value through technologies and industries that use the crop. Apart from the current manufacturing of desiccated coconut and coconut oil, recently popular coconut water shows promise. Apart from this, oleochemicals, activated carbon, and other downstream products will broaden the economic potential of each harvested coconut. This, therefore,  has the potential to create more jobs after the harvest. PCA can engage in investment promotion abroad along with our chambers of commerce and business groups, and ensure the development of coconut-themed industrial zones in areas near major production centers, particularly in Mindanao, which now forms the bulk of coconut production. I wish the PCA, led by Administrator Bernie Cruz, well in the coming years.

New manufacturing firm in Mindanao

I was privileged to attend the groundbreaking ceremonies of the expanded production facility of Monde Nissin Philippines here in Davao City. The manufacturer of noodles and biscuits has a bright future ahead of it, since it can serve the needs of a growing local economy and explore export potential to ASEAN from Davao. *(At about this time in 2022 I wrote a column on our coconut industry to which many reacted. [https://mb.com.ph/2022/6/27/using-our-coconuts-for-stronger-agriculture](https://mb.com.ph/2022/6/27/using-our-coconuts-for-stronger-agriculture))*

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John Tria #MINDANAO
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