The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) said coconut production this year is seen unchanged from 2022 output and that a massive coconut re-planting and value adding activities have been prepared as a result.
Bernie Cruz, PCA administrator, told reporters covering the third World Coconut Congress in Pasay City on Friday that the Philippine produced 14.93 million metric tons (MT) of coconut last year.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Cruz said this was a 1.43 percent increase from only 14.72 million MT in 2021.
“In terms of yield, it has not been changing much because our coconut trees are aging and as they age the yield decreases. Our coconut trees yield an average 44 coconuts (each year) and that is why we need to re-plant massively,” Cruz said.
At present, dwarf open pollinated varieties of coconuts produce 80 up to 100 coconuts per tree each year while hybrid varieties bear as much as 100 to 140 coconuts annually per tree.
The PCA official said some 3.16 million hectares are planted to coconut making the Philippines the biggest exporter of coconuts although Indonesia leads in terms of production.
According to Cruz, coconut farmers is continue to aim for the export market.
“We cannot generate much from domestic sales but to develop a market overseas, we need to capture the trend. Consumers prefer natural and sustainable products and coconut answers both,” Cruz said.
Investing with an impact require the support of big establishments, he notes.
Last month, the coconut National Sectoral Committee met with the PCA to assess progress under the Philippine Coconut Industry Roadmap 2021-2040.
He said that as of July this year, 74,059 farmers availed of crop insurance provided by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) or 73 percent of the target 101,563 farmers.
At the Agricultural Training Institute, 72 of the 80 information caravans planned have thus far been conducted and only 55 of 182 farmer-level trainings were accomplished.
But the PCA said more than 699 coconut products were developed, introduced and sold in the market this year with the help of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in research, assistance and promotion.
