Cebu City seeks funding for coco seedling production

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has requested the national government, through the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and the Department of Agriculture (DA), to appropriate funds for the establishment of the Coconut Seed Garden in Barangay Sinsin.

Councilor Renato Osmeña Jr. sponsored a resolution regarding the matter which was approved by the 15th Sangguniang Panlungsod.

Osmeña said the barangay council of Sinsin, through the leadership of Captain Aurelio Laspoña, proposed to establish a Coconut Seed Garden with an area of 10 hectares located in the barangay.

“The Barangay Council of Sinsin proposes the establishment of (a) Coconut Seed Garden with an area of 10 hectares at Barangay Sinsin as source of planting materials not only for Cebu City but also throughout the Province of Cebu,” read Barangay Resolution No. 12.

“The realization of this project will produce more coconut to (grow) at Barangay Sinsin and even be given to neighboring barangay,” it added.

Osmeña said the coconut industry is considered as one of the major exports that contributes 3.6 percent of the county's gross valued added (GVA) in agriculture, and the country's exports of coconut products last year expanded by 58.7 percent to a 4-year high of nearly $2 billion from $1.23 billion in 2020, the latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.

With this, the council likewise requested the City Agriculture Office to improve its support system to the coconut farmers in the city and develop programs to modernize the coconut sector and appropriate local funds therefor.

“The City Agriculture Office of the City of Cebu has to devise a development plan and programs to provide social protection for coconut farmers, farm workers, and their families,” said Osmeña.

Osmeña said the CAO shall organize and develop coconut farmers associations, conduct innovative research on coconut processing, production and distribution, and integrate the processing of coconut and downstream products, as well as support massive planting of coconut trees and the establishment of Coconut Seed Gardens.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order No. 172 approving the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP), which aims to modernize and boost the competitiveness of the coconut industry in the country.

The plan will be implemented by the PCA and other concerned state agencies. The funding for the programs under the plan will be taken from the coconut farmers and industry trust fund and from the regular budgets of implementing agencies.

“There is a need to approve the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan to increase overall productivity and income of coconut farmers, alleviate poverty, and achieve the twin objectives of rehabilitating and modernizing the coconut industry to attain social equity,” read EO 172. —GMR (FREEMAN)