President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently set aside some P786 million for the Coconut Industry Investment Fund Safety-Net Program (CSNP), said Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.
According to Yap, another P86 million is allotted for the upgraded insurance program that would benefit some 1.02-million coconut farmers nationwide.
The amount earmarked by President Arroyo is in line with her State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), to raise farm productivity, particularly, for the coconut sector.
Yap also revealed that the DA and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) are carrying out a P107.94 million program to intercrop corn in coconut plantations across the country.
He explained that said intercropping project is a component of the President’s Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program (AHMP) that aims to revitalize new or idle coconut farms and to increase the income of coconut farmers, on top of producing and making available more food for low-income families.
PCA Administrator Oscar Garin disclosed that last year, over 100,000 farmers benefited from a P100-million corn intercropping program of the DA in Bicol and other parts of Luzon.
This year, the PCA is carrying out three short- to long-term initiatives that will involve the massive fertilization, intercropping and planting of coconut to sustain the growth of this top Philippine export, Garin said. (PIA/Bohol)
