MANILA — The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) on Friday said it eyed planting 100 million coconut trees in an effort to reassert dominance in its production.

In a briefing, PCA Deputy Administrator Roel Rosales said that while the Philippines remained the top coconut exporter, Indonesia and India were ahead in terms of production volume.

"We used to be the dominant [coconut producer], but no more. That threatens our position in the international market," Rosales said.

"The only good thing is that most of their coconuts go into domestic consumption. We want to follow that track. Sa Indonesia, everyday may bitbit silang niyog for their use," he added.

(In Indonesia, they use coconuts daily.)

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The coconut planting directive came from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who also heads the agriculture department, Rosales said.

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Rosales said coconut trees would be planted in Mindanao and some areas in Northern Luzon.

"Mindanao is certainly one of the regions. A lot of areas there...can be utilized for it. We are looking for areas in the north to populate northern provinces with more coconut. We will work with IPs (indigenous peoples)," he said.

"We only work in open areas. We do not cut forest trees to give way to coconut trees," the official added.

He noted that coconuts grow in various terrain, even on sandy land and high altitudes.

"We also need to fertilize our coconut so we can improve productivity on a per hectare basis," he said.

Rosales acknowledged a decline in the market for coconut this year.

"2022 was a good year for coconut. We earned P3 billion. But there was a decline because the demand is soft. China is not yet there," he said.

"What affected is that the stock ng Indonesia na inipon noong pandemic, nilabas nila kaya the market is down. Mababa ang presyo," he added.

(Indonesia released its pandemic stock, so the market is down. The price went down.)

Rosales promoted the use of coconut, ahead of the 37th Coconut Week from August 22 to September 1.

"Coconut is something we can find in our homes on a daily basis, both food and non-food items. Let us promote better utilization of coconut. We want the coconut week to be the avenue for that," he said.

"We really need to support our coconut farmers especially at the time of food insecurity," he told the public.

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