President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. wants 100 million coconut trees planted by the end of his term as part of the rehabilitation plan for the coconut sector, Malacañang said on Thursday.

In a statement, Malacañang said the President met with Philippine Coconut Authority officials at Malacañang to discuss their proposed Coconut Planting and Replanting Project aimed at reinvigorating the coconut industry.

"There's a big opportunity, so let's have a look at that so that we can put…we can show even just for ourselves. We need to have a plan," Marcos told the PCA officials.

"It can't just be anyone doing this.

The plan needs to be clear. Let's make sure we use it correctly," he said.

Marcos emphasized the value of the coconut industry leaders' input in developing a broad plan for the industry and wished the government would continue to carry out the program after his presidency.

The PCA recommended issuing a memorandum circular instructing all national government agencies, instrumentalities, and local government units to support the coconut planting and replanting initiative project to gain traction.

The PCA aims to plant 20 to 25 million trees annually from 2023 to 2028, or 100 million trees, as part of the planting and replanting program.

MoA with LGUs

The LGUs will be encouraged to conduct activities like coconut planting and replanting, seed farm development, and coconut fertilization, among other things, in accordance with a memorandum of agreement between the PCA and municipalities and provinces that produce coconuts.

Around 3.60 million hectares of coconut trees have been planted in the Philippines, making up about 27 percent of all agricultural land. There are 340.60 million coconut trees, producing 14 to 15 billion nuts annually.

Coconut production in the nation decreased from 15.86 million metric tons in 2012 to 13.83 MMT in 2016, then increased to 14.73 MMT in 2018 and 14.93 MMT in 2022.

Despite these changes, the nation remains the world's largest exporter of coconut products, with $3.22 billion in exports in 2022.

From 2013 to 2022, the average share of coconut exports in the total agricultural export revenue of the nation was 35 percent.

According to the PCA, the sector is facing difficulties, including growing tree senility, tree losses from pests and disease, natural catastrophes, and the effects of climate change.

The number of bearing trees was 340.6 million last year, down from 346.8 million the year before, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.