TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) –- The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) here has already delivered around 300,000 coconut seedlings out of its 1.4 million target this year as part of its planting and replanting program.
Annually, PCA 8 target to cover some 25,000 hectares for the program, according to regional manager Edilberto Nierva.
The agency hoped to plant/replant an additional 200,000 hectares of coconut plantation in the region.
“We are the highest in relation to other regions in the country,” he said.
The provision of planting materials is one of the initiatives adopted by the PCA to ensure the availability of raw materials and sustain investments in Eastern Visayas.
In addition, Nierva disclosed that they also provide cash incentives to coconut farmers who use their own planting materials.
They just have to be assisted by PCA agriculturist on how to establish nursery, culling, selection of good quality seedlings and distance when planting, among others.
As of last month, around 95 percent of the P18.4 million allocation under its Participatory Coconut Planting Program has been released.
Further, around 92 percent of the 87,179 bags of fertilizer have been distributed all over the region.
Currently, Eastern Visayas has around 72 million bearing and non-bearing coconut trees.
Around 649,000 hectares or 31 percent of the region’s agricultural area are planted with coconut.
The region has around 72 million bearing and non-bearing coconut trees, he added.