Market forces are driving the rising prices of copra which registered all-time high last February.
This according to Euclides Forbes, administrator of the Philippine Coconut Authority during his guesting at the press conference of the coco coir summit held last Wednesday at the Marco Polo Davao.
Last February copra mill gate prices hit an all-time record of P64 a kilo, though it is now hovering around at P50/kilo which Forbes says is still high.
The rising prices were attributed to high demand in China and India which are now the top export markets of copra aside from Europe.
He said the PCA is encouraging the replanting of new coconut trees to increase coconut production as they noted that senile or old coconut trees now consists about 20% of the 320-million coconut trees in the country.
Meanwhile value-adding is another strategy in developing the coconut industry. One of the program is the revitalization of the coco-coir and coco peat industry. Coco-coir sourced from coconut husks are used in geo-textiles utilized in civil works like erosion control, dams and irrigation facilities.
The country is hoping to become the top coco-coir exporter with its vast coconut plantations. Currently Sri Lanka and India are the top coco-coir exporters. Forbes said that the country produces 15 billion husks which would go to waste if not utilized properly. Traditionally coconut husks are used as fuel for drying copra in the kiln.
Forbes estimates that to produce a kilo of coir you need 10 pieces of coconut husks.
Cocopeat meanwhile is produced from corticated husk fiber they are used as soil conditioners and planting bed of orchids. [PIA 11]
