The provincial government here is taking steps to revitalize the coconut industry, which is being eyed to become one of the major commodities in Iloilo.

In an interview on Thursday, Geron Magbanua, chief of the Crops Division of the Provincial Agriculture Office, said they are targeting to expand the coconut plantation to 10,000 hectares in the next three years, starting this year.

He said they will start with improving their source of quality coconuts in the province.

One challenge, which is also shared by the Philippine Coconut Authority, is that most of their sources are still in Mindanao.

“Through the help of PCA, we are planning to establish different seednut farms and nurseries in the province to fast-track our expansion,” he said.

Currently, only around 8 percent of the agricultural area in the province is planted with coconuts.

“It is safe to say that up to 30 to 50 percent of the area can still be planted with coconut. If we can expand that, together with the help on processing and market linkage, it will be an alternative source of livelihood and can probably be an alternative source of income or main income of farmers who would like to divert from other commodities going to coconut,” Magbanua said.

Based on PCA data, 38,240.41 hectares in the province are considered as coconut area. Their inventory showed 3.8 million coconut palms.

The province also has 37,414 registered coconut farmers and 20 associations and cooperatives.

In addition to nursery improvement and seednut production, Magbanua said they are also focusing on raising awareness about the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) Fund.

“We want our farmers to be aware of the programs that they can avail from the PCA,” he said.

As part of the activities for the first Iloilo Provincial Coconut Week that opened on Tuesday, Magbanua said concerned agencies will have a short presentation of the programs during the culminating activity on Friday.

Meanwhile, Magbanua said one of the initiatives to support the industry is for the provincial government to serve buko juice and other coconut products during their events, as suggested by Vice Governor Lee Ann Dubuque, who attended the opening ceremony.

He added that PCA Western Visayas urged for the passage of an ordinance patronizing buko products during activities.

The office also called to control the entry of any kind of coconut seednuts from other regions to the province, citing cases of pests and diseases in Mindanao and other neighboring regions.

In the meantime, various processed coconut products are currently on display at the provincial capitol as part of the Coconut Expo of the weeklong celebration.

They also planted 100 seednuts of the Tacunan coconut variety at Barangay Nagbangi in Leon town on Wednesday. (PNA)