President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has approved an additional P3.5-billion fund to improve the coconut industry, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.
Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Marcos okayed the massive coconut planting/replanting and fertilization programs amounting to P1 billion and P2.5 billion, respectively, in fiscal year 2025.
Under the government’s Philippine Coconut Industry Development Plan 2024-2034 (PCIDP 2024-2034), the Philippine Coconut Industry aims to plant 100 million coconut trees by 2028.
To fully implement the project, Marcos also approved the Philippine Coconut Authority’s (PCA) proposal to increase the fertilization program funding to P2.5 billion under the 2025 coconut planting project.
Garafil said the President approved the additional fund during the sectoral meeting at Malacañang on Tuesday.
She said this latest development was in response to Marcos’ directive to the PCA in October last year to present “a detailed plan to develop the coconut industry in all areas of the value chain, together with the necessary funding and the timeline to accomplish its targets.”
“So that’s why I’m focusing on the production side and that’s what we have to increase. The critical part of that is the replanting,” Marcos said.
The PCA plans to plant or replant 100 million coconut seedlings on 700,000 hectares of land nationwide by 2028 “to increase coconut production by 4.7-billion nuts valued at P33.1 billion by 2034.”
Marcos stressed that the replanting program is an important project to boost the coconut industry’s huge market potential.