Coconut agency to develop regional agricultural lands

At least 18,000 hectares in Central Visayas will be developed as new sites for coconut plantations and other agricultural businesses for income diversification program, the Philippine Coconut Authority said recently.

PCA-7 manager Deodiro Ravelo said the agency is now targeting to achieve the development of these lands to address the problem of high incidence of hunger in some parts of Region 7.

Half of these 18,000 hectares will be for coconut planting and replanting, the other 8,000 hectares will be for intercropping, while the remaining 1,000 hectares will be for livestock integration, said Ravelo.

Lands intended for intercropping and livestock raising will still be planted with coconuts, he said adding that intercropping was originally the only option before until the farmers asked for an alternate source of food over a shorter period.

This prompted the PCA-7 to include livestock integration in the program "so that they will have something to eat while waiting for the coconuts to mature to be harvested," Ravelo said.

Under the income diversification strategy, Coconut High Value Product Processing Centers will be established in every province for the production of coir fiber, coco peat, virgin coconut oil, charcoal, coconut flour, organic vinegar and coconut diesel.

Last year, PCA-7 developed a total of 21,525.75 hectares for agribusiness purposes, which also generated a total of 29,633 jobs. - Ferliza C. Contratista