Friday, July 31, 2009

Gov’t Agencies Underscored Coconut Tree Importance at Philippine Coconut Summit

Numerous government agencies reiterated the importance of the coconut tree and encouraged farmers to support coconut tree planting in the province of Cagayan to meet the demand for coconut products in the country during the Philippine Coconut Summit held last July 27 – 31, 2009 at the Brickstone Mall in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

These agencies are the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) who jointly organized the event. The Summit was part of the Regional Science and Technology Week celebration with the theme "Responding to Global Challenges through Science and Technology".

Mr. Carlos Carpio, Deputy Administrator-PCA, said the province has great potential of coconut plantation considering the good quality of soil it has, however, only few land owners and farmers plant coconut trees because their priority is on agricultural products such as rice and corn.

Carpio said though farmers should really focus on rice, corn and other agricultural products, they must also consider coconut plants to meet the sustainability of coco products and which will also add in their income considering that coconut is a multipurpose plant; as food, medicine, cleaning equipments and many others.

Mrs. Loreta dela Cruz, Provincial Administrator-PCA Cagayan, revealed the problems in the implementation of RA 8042 and the moratorium on cutting coco trees in the province. She said there are illegally transported coco lumbers from the province and there are illegally cut coco trees that the law prohibits.

Dr. Urdujah Tejada, DOST 2- Regional Director, on her part said coconut industry is a big contributor to foreign exchange being one among crops that are exported to other countries. Dr. Tejada said that in the region, DOST has assisted the production of several products out of coconut such as the nata de coco, buko pie, coco vinegar, coco coir, geotextiles and many other products.

As a commitment, Regional Director Purita S. Licas, PIA Region 2, said the NutriComNet which she chairs will also help in the information dissemination and advocate to the people the importance of coconut in human life together with local media practitioners of the province.

For more information about the event, contact the Philippine Coconut Authority at (632) 928-4501, email pca_cpo@yahoo.com.ph, or visit their website at http://www.pca.da.gov.ph/

0 comments:

Post a Comment