Coconut Industry Recovery Seen in Coming Years

As the revitalization of the Philippines’ coconut industry continues, the recovery and eventual boom of the sector may be seen in the coming years, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

DA Secretary William Dar said in his speech during the Department of Finance’s Sulong Pilipinas virtual conference on Monday, he said that a “deamatic rebound” of the sector may be seen in the near future as government’s actions for the coconut industry starts to be felt.

“We expect a dramatic rebound of the subsector in the next few years due to the release of the coconut levy fund by the President,” Dar said, via PNA.

The coconut industry’s contribution to the agricultural gross value added (GVA) in the last decade was consistent at an average of 4 percent.

The further rise of the country’s coconut industry will also be strengthend further with the newly reconstituted Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) of the DA.

The PCA will help the efforts through the formulation of a plan for the industry to continuously increase the subsector’s agricultural GVA significantly compared to the current average of 4 percent in the last decade.

DA data on coconut planting shows that coconuts planted on over three million hectares of land yielded a contribution of at least 10 percent to GVA.

Dar further added that coconut export is a top Philippine product that brings about considerable gains in foreign exchange.

“Coconut is a top Philippine export that brings in considerable foreign exchange. Besides, we now have substantial budgetary resources to develop this sleeping giant, thanks to the passage of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Law or Republic Act (RA) No. 11524,” He said. (GFB)