Philippine exports of coconut products rose by 47% to 1.62 million metric tons (MT) in January-September, 2013, from 1.09 MT in 2012, with earnings for the nine-month period reaching $1.205 billion from $1.167 billion in the same period last year. This was the fourth successive year that coconut exports breached the $1-billion level. Copra meal, one of the major agricultural exports, registered the highest percentage of increase, 60.86% year-on-year from 392,024 MT to 630,662 MT. Copra meal is the residue left after oil is squeezed out of copra and is used to make livestock and fishery feed. Activated carbon exports rose by 55% to 39,066 MT from 25,135 MT in 2012.
The Philippines is the top exporter of 47 coconut products and by-products – coconut oil, copra oil cake and desiccated coconut are among top agricultural export earners – to 100 countries and the No. 2 producer of coconut, the “tree of life.” The United States, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and China are top destinations for local coconut products.
The industry produces coconut sap sugar, coconut water, coconut oil, desiccated coconut, coco shell charcoal, coconut water, activated carbon, and handicrafts such as coco fiber-made baskets, figurines, hats, sofas, and cabinets which earn praises in trade exhibits abroad. Over 3.5 million farmers derive income from the billion-dollar coconut industry, while 23 million depend on it for livelihood. Of the country’s 12 million hectares of farmland, 3.4 million hectares are devoted to coconut. Of the country’s 79 provinces, 68 are coconut-growing areas. There are 324 million coconut trees in the country, about 85% of which are productive. Coconut farms are widely distributed nationwide, the biggest in Southern Luzon – Quezon, Laguna, and Bicol – and Davao in Mindanao.
The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) taps experts for new planting methods to help coconut trees withstand the storms and fro new varieties for planting. It is intercropping corn in coconut estates to help farmers until the next coconut planting season to replace ageing trees. The PCA reported that 17.5 million seedlings nationwide were planted this year. The agency plans to plant 19.5 million seedlings next year.
We congratulate the Department of Agriculture headed by Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and Philippine Coconut Authority Administrator Euclides G. Forbes, in their joint efforts to implement interventions that would further boost coconut industry exports in our Republic of the Philippines. CONGRATULATIONS AND MABUHAY!
Manila Bulletin – Sat, Jan 11, 2014