The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are eyeing Central Visayas as a new source of cacao and coffee, an official said on Wednesday.

John Dennis Ranario, senior science research specialist at the PCA-Central Visayas, said cacao as the leading raw material for chocolate-based products and coffee as the top beverage in demand in the market are identified as compatible crops that can grow in close proximity with the coconut trees in the same field.

Ranario, who is also working as the regional focal person of High-Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) under the Coconut Farmers Industry Development Plan (CFIDP), said the Coconut-Based Coffee and/or Cacao Enterprise Development Project (C3EDP), intercropping of coconut side-by-side with coffee and cacao, is now a priority.

PCA and DA see coffee and cacao harvest as a potential source of new income for coconut farmers, he added.

The two agencies, he said, will work together for the establishment of a cacao and coffee nursery in Central Visayas to give coconut farmers ample source of planting materials.

“There’s a big impact if we have a nursery for cacao and coffee here in Central Visayas. This will address the concern on procurement of planting materials which we momentarily sourced from other regions,” Ranario added.

Currently, the region is still taking seedlings or planting materials from Mindanao, particularly from the Davao and Cotabato areas.

He said there are nurseries in this region but they are not yet accredited by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

Accreditation is among the requirements for a local source to be allowed to supply the government to ensure the quality of seedlings for distribution to coconut farmers.

Cipriano Ochavo Jr., a coconut farmer from Odiong, Jagna in Bohol province, thanked the PCA-7 after receiving 800 cacao seedlings to be planted at his coconut plantation. (PNA)