First Regional Coconut Summit held in Cebu

Transcript

00:00 In a bid to support local coconut farmers and promote homegrown produce, a regional coconut summit has been launched through a

00:08 collaborative effort between multiple government agencies.

00:11 Jesse Atienza of PTB Cebu tells us more.

00:15 Different locally made products are on display like vinegar,

00:22 ointment, accessories,

00:25 souvenir items, and guitars. All of them are made from either the tree or fruit of the coconut.

00:31 This is the center of the gathering for the first regional coconut summit

00:35 initiated by the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, and the Philippine Coconut Authority.

00:41 According to the PCA, this is a timely summit since Central Visayas

00:47 touts over 200,000 coconut farmers at any given time.

00:51 This is in line with the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan, which is a plan that is

00:58 borne out from Republic Act

01:00 11-524,

01:02 otherwise known as the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act, which was signed into law

01:08 last February 26, 2021.

01:11 This concerns the utilization of the coconut leviphants.

01:18 The DTI on their hand aims to help coconut farmers create and sell new products aside from dried coconut meat or copra.

01:25 What we're doing

01:28 to our farmers here in Region 7 is to show them what are the market opportunities from coconut

01:34 other than just copra. So we're telling them, we're informing them that

01:40 coconut or other high value products that they can do so that they can also be more productive,

01:47 more competitive, and have a higher income at the farm level.

01:52 Based on PCA data, Negros Oriental has the highest number of coconut farmers, which has more than a hundred thousand,

01:59 followed by Cebu and Bohol, while Siquijor has more than 17,000 coconut farmers.

02:05 From PTV Cebu, Jesse Atienza, for the Nation.

02:10 *outro*