Monday, August 18, 2008 Coco yield declines: Research body
ALTHOUGH coconut is the country's top agricultural export with annual average revenue of US$629.58 million, its yield is declining.
Dr. Jocelyn E. Eusebio, director for Crops Research Division of the Philippine Council for Agricultural Resources, Research and Development (Pcarrd) told the coconut industry stakeholders in Davao region that the national average yield nuts per tree per year is only 53 percent of average potential yield of 80 nuts per tree per year.
She said coconut trees are old and senile, adding that 75 million of these trees are old and unproductive palms in 1.03 million hectares. Twenty-five percent of these existing palms need to be replaced, she said.
However, she said the country has limited supply of high yielding variety because the existing gardens can only supply 3.5 million nuts for the replanting program and there is a deficit of 6.4 million nuts per year for a target of 10,000 hectares per year.
She said the continued cutting of coconut trees is a real threat to the very survival of the industry.
The reported total number of logged coconut trees has been increasing, majority of which are from Southern Luzon.
She said the rampant cutting happens despite the passage of RA 8048 that regulates logging of coconut trees less than 60 years old.
Coconut farmers and farm workers remain poor because coconut farming, she said, is unprofitable and can no longer support even the most basic needs of coconut farmers.
"Poor alleviation in coconut communities needs to be addressed immediately without the farmers losing interest in coconut growing," she said.
Eusebio also said the government is pushing the Science and Technology Agenda (STA) from 2006 to 2010, which is a medium-term plan to address the need and focus on fewer but impact-producing areas.
She said the programs and projects packaged under STA would develop technologies and generate information that would increase coconut productivity and increase farmers' income in strategic locations, enhance production of quality planting materials, and develop high-value products.
