Coconut output likely flat next year amid aging trees

By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter

PHILIPPINE COCONUT production gowth is likely to be flat next year given low yields from the country’s aging trees, an industry player said.

“We estimate coconut production to stay at the levels similar to previous years as efforts to improve productivity will take time to bear fruit,” Romeo I. Chan, Axelum Resources Corp. chairman and chief executive officer, said in an e-mailed reply to questions.

Philippine coconut output has steadily decreased in recent years as most of the country’s fruit-bearing trees are now too old. Coconut and its by-products remain the country’s top agricultural export.

The volume of coconut production hit 14.89 million metric tons (MT) in 2023, slightly lower than 14.93 million MT a year earlier, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

“At present, the most evident challenges are the low productivity of coconut trees and inadequate infrastructure support,” Mr. Chan said. “Senile trees, weather disturbances and climate change have led to declining harvest yields over the years.”

Last year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. ordered the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to draft a plan to rehabilitate the coconut industry, including planting 100 million coconut trees by 2028.

Among the agency’s rehabilitation plan seeks to address the advanced age of the nut-bearing trees. The agency is seeking to replant about 8.5 million coconut trees this year.

Under the Philippine Coconut Industry Development Plan 2024-2034, the replanting project is expected to increase coconut output by 4.7 billion nuts annually worth P33.1 billion by 2034.

In 2025, the PCA aims to replant 15.3 million trees, followed by 25.4 million yearly between 2026 and 2028.

Mr. Chan said the government’s replanting goal could be reached if the state and private sector work together.

“In addition, the absence or lack of development in coconut regions has increasingly contributed to it being one of the most marginalized sectors, with coconut farmers considered among the poorest in the country,” he added.

Mr. Chan said the struggling industry could be boosted with the appropriate use of the coco levy fund.

In 2021, Republic Act No. 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act signed by then President Rodrigo R. Duterte mandated the creation of a fund that places coconut levy assets to a trust fund that will finance the rehabilitation and modernization of the industry.

“The proper utilization of the coco levy fund will be critical to help modernize the coconut industry, reinforce capabilities of smallholder farms and uplift coconut farming communities,” he said.

The law also calls on the Bureau of the Treasury to transfer P10 billion to the trust fund, another P10 billion in the second year, P15 billion in the third year, another P15 billion in the fourth year and P25 billion in the fifth year.

Axelum is a Philippine Stock Exchange-listed manufacturer and exporter of coconut products.