PCA urges to plant more coconut

Even though that the prices of copra are low, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) in the province of Bohol has strongly urged the Boholanos to plant coconut for future income, four to five years to go if properly grown.
PCA Provincial Manager Emiliano Romero and PCA Senior Agriculturist Primo Galendez have made the call amid the continued re-planting program of coconut spearheaded by their office.
Romero and Galendez said that the two coconut nurseries in Bohol namely: Central Visayas Coconut Seed Production Center (CVCSPC) in Calanggaman, Ubay and the Loay Code Farmer (LCF) in La Salinas, Loay have produced the hybrid and dwarf varieties of coconut seedlings and are ready to be planted in the re-planting program to include the participatory coconut planting, coconut seedling dispersal, and accelerated coconut planting and rehabilitation programs.
They said that the CVCSPC has produced the hybrid PCA 15-9, Hybrid PCA 15-4, MRDX Tagnanan and green dwarf varieties (Katigan and Takunan) while the LCF has only produced the green dwarf varieties.
The hybrid varieties will bear fruits within five years after planting while the dwarf varieties have four years if properly grown by the farmers to include the proper application of fertilizer.
Earlier, Romero disclosed that in the coconut seedling dispersal program, the farmers were given coconut seedlings by PCA for them to plant while the participatory coconut planting program, requires the farmers to plant utilizing their own seedlings and they would be paid by the PCA at P45 per stabilized coconut seedling.
On the other hand, the accelerated coconut planting and rehabilitation program is another of which the farmers were given the coconut coir-based organic fertilizer.
Romero and Galendez said that the two nurseries are not only supplying the needed coconut seedlings in Central Visayas but also in Tacloban and Leyte areas or in Region 8.
They said that the drive against illegal cutting of coconut trees has no letting up considering that there are still violators of which some of them were already penalized and convicted.
As of now, Bohol has 104,000 hectares (has.) of planted coconut and the area is still increasing due to the re-planting program. (AtoyCosap)

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VARIETIES OF COCONUT TREES. The hybrid variety (left photo) and the green dwarf variety (right photo) of coconut trees are both recommended by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) for plantingthrough the re-planting program in the province of Bohol. These varieties are produced at the Central Visayas Seed Production Center in Calanggaman, Ubay, Bohol and Loay Code Farmer in La Salinas, Loay, Bohol.