Zamboanga del Norte – A total of 736 bags of fertilizers were distributed by the personnel of Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to coconut farmers yesterday, July 23, during the information caravan (Infocar) for poverty reduction conducted by the Mindanao Communicator’s Network, Inc. and the Regional Development Council (RDC)-9 at barangay Poblacion here.
In an interview with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-9, Coconut Development Officer Antonio Soria said the PCA provided free agricultural grade-salt to coconut farmers under its Salt Fertilization Program (SFP), a component of PCA’s drive to increase domestic coconut production.
Soria said utilizing agricultural-grade salt to fertilize coconut trees could increase the yield of coconut trees by as much as 25 percent during the first year of application, and by 50 to 100 percent in the second and third year of application.
The fertilizer, Soria said, would help increase the coconut yield and boost the plant’s tolerance to drought. “It also boosts resistance to pests and diseases,” he added.
The PCA has also assisted the coco farmers in filing their Cocolife Insurance benefits, he dislosed, adding “in this infocar, we offered our services to them (coco farmers) in processing their documents to facilitate the release of their Cocolife Insurance claims.” Each insured coco farmer will receive a financial assistance of P10 thousand.
“There were 500 coco farmers insured under the Cocolife Insurance where some of them have received already their insurance claims,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dan Butalid, federation president of Small Coconut Farmers Organization thanked the government through the PCA for providing them free fertilizers.
“Nalipay kami nga nakadawat ug hinabang nga abuno gikan sa kagamhanan tungod kay kini ang makatabang pagpauswag sa abot sa among lubi (We are happy to receive free fertilizer for our coconut plants from the government, as this will help increase our production),” Butalid said.
With the fertilizers, Butalid observed that the coconut yields in his two-hectare farm had increased.
Edilberto Micabalo of barangay New Argao, on the other hand, said he thanked the government for attending to coco farmers by providing them free fertilizers.
Soria said coco farmers received four bags each of agricultural-grade salt. pia
Disclaimer
Mindanao Gold Star Daily holds the copyrights of all articles and photos in perpetuity. Any unauthorized reproduction in any platform, electronic and hardcopy, shall be liable for copyright infringement under the Intellectual Property Rights Law of the Philippines.
