Three deals to hike Cagayan Valley coconut output, boost farmers' incomes

Three agreements planning to expand Cagayan Valley’s coconut production and eventually increase farmers’ incomes in the region were signed on Tuesday. Endorsed by representatives of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU), and the Isabela State University (ISU), the three agreements intend to promote coconut culture in Northern Luzon, including providing a 1.6 million hectare land with seed nuts and irrigation, among others. Under the agreements, the two universities will make lands available for coconut planting. In turn, the PCA, the body tasked to promote and develop the country’s coconut industry, will implement the National Coconut Participatory Planting Program, which aims to hike coconut production for domestic and foreign consumption. The coconut body will pay P7 for every grown seed nut sown by the universities. The Rotary Club also agreed to pay the same amount for every seed nut grown in the universities’ nurseries under a separate agreement. Plantable seedlings withdrawn from the universities’ nurseries will then be distributed to coconut farmers who will be paid P16 for every “good transplanted seedling." Farmers will also be trained on proper intercropping to ensure continued growth of the seedlines. The signing of the memoranda, held at the residence of Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, was witnessed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Signatories included PCA administrator Oscar Garin, NVSU president Marilou Gilo-Abon, ISU president Romeo Quilang, and Rotary Club lawyer Rufino Mijares. Other organizations involved in the initiative include the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and Rotary International District 3780 through Rotary Club of Centennial Quezon City. - GMANews.TV