The proposed PHP42-million processing center that will rise in the municipality of Hamtic could boost the livelihood of coconut farmers in Antique.

Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) regional manager Dr. Neil Melencion on Wednesday said the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) will turn over the certificate to the Hamtic Coconut Farmers Marketing Cooperative (HCFMC) as the recipient of the Integrated White Copra and Cooking Oil Processing Center in a ceremony at the province’s Legislative Building here on Thursday.

“The project, which hopefully could be started to be established before the end of this year, is under the Coconut Farmer Industry Program (CFIP),” Melencion said in an interview.

The bulk of the PHP42 million will fund the construction of the processing center in Barangay Funda, Hamtic, as well as machines and equipment.

The Antique provincial government will provide a working capital of PHP1 million.

“The HCFMC will then be buying 25,000 nuts per week or 5,000 nuts per day from the coco farmers for a higher amount than the market prevailing price,” Melencion said.

He said the market prevailing price of coconut in Antique is PHP7, but the HCFMC will buy for a higher price at PHP8 per nut.

Weekly, the HCFMC will produce 3,937.5 liters of organic aflatoxin or carcinogens-free cooking oil they will initially market in Antique and the adjacent Iloilo province.

“Antique has right now 3,044,921 coco palms, around 1.7 million are on their bearing stage,” Melencion said.

Antique has around 59,000 coconut farmers.

He added that while their coco production could already meet the needed nuts of the processing center, they are encouraging more farmers to plant coco palms in anticipation of the increasing demand for cooking oil. (PNA)