Marcos eyes giving PCA budget to plant 100-M coconut trees

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. promised to give the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) the budget it needs to plant 100 million coconut trees in the country, Malacañang said Thursday.

According to Malacañang, Marcos said this during his meeting with the Agriculture Sector Group of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) earlier this week.

During the meeting, Marcos said the Philippines has great potential to become the biggest coconut exporter in the world.

“This is really a great opportunity to the country. We have a chance to do it because [of] the market. Every single part of the nut [has] use and can be sold,” Marcos said. 

Earlier this year, Marcos said the government wants to plant 100 million palm trees before Marcos leaves office.

However, PSAC Agricultural Sector Group Christopher Po of Century Pacific Group said that the program is not feasible yet due to the lack of budget.

Even so, the advisory group came up with a number of suggestions for how to fix the issue.

Po said the group eyes speeding up the launch of the massive coconut tree planting program by increasing seednut production. 

Another one is for the group to ask the PCA to make a plan for how to speed up the start of the coconut planting program. The group also suggested that PCA should make a deal with local salt farmers to get salt as fertilizer. 

Republic Act No. 11985, also known as the Philippine Salt Industry Act, agrees with the PSAC's advice on how to grow salt. The law says that local government units (LGUs) must find the right places in their own areas to grow salt. 

PSAC says that a budget of P2.5 billion would allow 55 million coconut trees to be fertilized and the production of salt in the country to double. The group said this could lead to a 25% rise in the production of nuts and more money for farmers. 

The PCA wants to plant 8.5 million new coconut trees on 59,744 hectares this year. It also plans to feed 2.8 million trees spread out over 28,341 hectares with fertilizer. 

PSAC also wants the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and local governments (LGUs) to set up test places for making salt. It also asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to make a plan for how the Biodiesel Act will be put into action over the next three years, gradually raising the grade of biodiesel from B2 to B59. 

Through talks with the National Biofuel Board (NBB), the DOE plans to send out a circular on how to gradually raise biofuel blends from B2 to B5 by 2026 so that the country can produce more of its own energy and put out less CO2. The 1% blend rise that was supposed to happen in 2024 was pushed back from July to August.