President Marcos Jr. on Wednesday committed to provide more funds to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to support its bid to plant 100 million coconut trees within his term and eventually turn the country into the world’s number one coconut exporter.
The President made the pronouncement during his meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council-Agriculture Sector Group (PSAC-ASG) which submitted its recommendations on the development of the coconut industry and other agricultural products.
“This is really a great opportunity to the country. We have a chance to do it because [of] the market. Every single part of the nut [has] use and can be sold,” Marcos said as he committed to “see to it that enough funding will be given to the PCA to carry out the program.”
No specific amount was mentioned during the meeting.
PSAC-ASG member Christopher Po said among the recommendations is to accelerate the launch of the massive coconut tree planting program by increasing the seed nut production.
Other recommendations include tasking the PCA to outline a roadmap to accelerate the launch of the coconut planting program and to enter into contract farming with local salt farmers to supply salt as fertilizer.
Po said the recommendation on salt development is consistent with Republic Act 11985 or the Philippine Salt Industry Act, which tasks local government units (LGU) to identify the appropriate areas for local salt production in their localities.
The group called on the Department of the Interior and Local Government and different LGUs to pilot areas for salt production.
Data from PSAC showed that a P2.5-billion budget is needed for the fertilization of 55 million coconut trees and doubling of local salt production which, in turn, would result in a 25 percent increase in nut productivity and additional profit to farmers.
For 2024, PCA aims to replant 8.5 million coconut seedlings in 59,744 hectares and fertilize 2.8 million trees in 28,341 hectares.
The Philippines is the second biggest coconut exporting country in the world next to Indonesia.
PSAC, meanwhile, urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a roadmap for the gradual implementation of the Biodiesel Act, including increasing the coco methyl ester (CME) content in the biodiesel blend in the next three years.
The DOE, through consultations conducted by the National Biofuel Board, plans to issue a circular on gradually increasing biofuel blends from two percent (B2) to five percent (B5) by 2026 for greater energy self-sufficiency and reduced carbon dioxide emissions.
The implementation of the mandatory one percent blend increase in 2024 was moved from July to August 2024.
