NEWS
Bonita proposes bgy coco nurseries

A coconut nursery has been proposed for each barangay in the municipality of Caramoan, Camarines Sur as the logical means of sustaining the coconut industry which is the main source of income of some 80% of the town populace.

Businessman Eduardo Bonita said each of the 49 Caramoan barangays must have its own nursery that could be funded by an allocation of at least P2,000 a month from the barangay development fund with counterpart from the municipal government to provide a continuing supply of coconut seedlings.

In their desire to get the maximum cash proceeds from their copra, coconut farmers have neglected the need to set aside some nuts for seedling purposes. As a result, coconut trees that have become unproductive either because of disease or because they have become too old and those that have been felled for coco lumber could not be replaced.

A former town councilor, Bonita recommended that the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) as the lead government agency overseeing the coconut industry must help ensure that farmers are able to form the habit of planting new coconut trees.

“Coconut farmers must in fact not just be contented with the present size of their coconut land”, Bonita said. “If there are still available areas they should strive to expand their coconut plantation because as proven now despite other alternative sources of income like seaweeds, coconut still is the best and most dependable source of income”, he added.

He also noted that coco farmers have yet to adopt the ideal farming strategy of planting other food crops within their coconut lands, a process called diversification to double and even treble their income.

A PCA survey of coconut lands not just in Caramoan but throughout Bicol indicated that 80% of coconut lands in this part of the country are solely devoted to coconuts unlike in other coconut provinces.