CORTES, Bohol, Aug. 29 (PIA) -- There is no better time for Boholanos to join the Philippine Coconut Authority’s (PCA) replanting project of the "tree of life" than now.
Due to the threat of COVID-19 and with restrictions in movement, people have resorted to planting all kinds of plants imaginable, some going for the ornamentals that do not offer much in terms of return of investment.
Because of the COVID-19 response from the PCA, people can germinate coconuts and the government will pay them.
According to PCA Bohol Manager Engr. Emiliano Romero, their office has the Coconut Planting and Replanting Program that allows people who germinate coconuts into seedlings and plant them, and in return they receive an incentive from the government.
Speaking at the Kapihan sa PIA Thursday, Romero said PCA pays a farmer P40 for every coconut seedling that he is able to germinate and another P45 for every seeding the farmer transplants to a permanent place in a coconut farm.
A total of P85 per tree, he said.
Noting that not a lot of people are into coconut farming because of the length of time to get a coconut into fruiting, he debunked the myth with the hybrids and the dwarf varieties that can fruit after a span of three years.
“Little do people know that there are dwarf coconuts now that have matured after three years, coconuts whose tender fruits can by harvested without needing somebody to climb the tree," Romero said.
“Ubos ra kaayo, nga kon naa mi bisita sa farm, malipay mi nga makadalit mi dayun og botong (It is so short one can harvest young coconuts without climbing. Now we are happy we can easily offer young coconuts to our farm guests)," Romero said.
And at P15 to P30 a fruit, it is still the same money one would get from other fruits, he explained.
Now, with healthy coconuts, it can produce one bunch of seven fruits per month, sometimes a tree bearing 14-16 bunches a year.
No other fruit tree bears much fruit monthly than coconuts, he noted.
Moreover, the PCA’s Planting and Replanting program also offers farmers who have half a hectare of farms to plant some 72 free seedlings.
With hybrid seedlings now sold at P225 and dwarf coconut seedlings at P85, this is an opportunity for coconut farmers to get free seedlings for their farms, Romero disclosed.
For farmers or those interested to plant but do not have bigger lots, they can form a group and as long as their aggregate areas to plant reaches half a hectare, then PCA can grant them the free 72 seedlings.
He added that PCA can give more according to the area needing seedlings to plant.
Fo farmers who need money with cheap copra prices, Romero said their office has also incentivized banana plants when intercropped with coconuts.
"For a half-hectare of coconut plantation intercropped with bananas, we pay P25 per banana planted under coconut trees," said the PCA manager.
For PCA, with copra prices not helping much, the other option is to go to other uses of the coconut, which is now being looked at and assisted by the government.
Romero said copra is just a small part of the value of a coconut, noting that even the husk now is being used to produce coco peat, a kind of fertilizer additive that keeps water from draining or evaporating fast and coco coir which is used to make geo-fibers used in soil stabilization and erosion control.
Bohol already has 10 coconut decorticating machines, one that can strip the husk of the coir and the fiber, he added.
One can also sell the young fruits at a high price, but Romero added that processed coconut can command much more. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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