“The coconut nut is a giant nut / If you eat too much, you’ll get very fat / Now, the coconut nut is a big, big nut / But this delicious nut is not a nut.”
As I was writing today’s column, the first verse of the song by Smokey Mountain came to my mind. In fact, I sang it while typing this piece.
The reason why I am humming the tune is because I have just read a feature written by singer Apl.de.Ap which was published in GMA News Online. The title was “Why 100 Million Coconut Trees Could Change the Story of the Philippines.”
“In the Philippines, trees aren’t just background,” wrote the Filipino and American rapper, singer and record producer. “They hold memories. They hold life.”
This is the reason why he is supporting the planting of 100 million coconut trees – as a way to combat the consequences of climate change. “I don’t throw numbers or climate stats at (the people who ask me why). I talk about that feeling of belonging. Because when we plant something, we don’t just heal the land—we begin to heal ourselves.”
The Philippines is now “at a turning point.” Apl.de.Ap penned: “The storms hit harder. The land’s tired. So many of our farmers grow old with little to show. And the young? They’re leaving. Looking for opportunity, often finding loneliness instead. They’re moving to smaller places and selling their lands to miners who rip out its soul and leave it to rot. This isn’t home to them; this isn’t their country. But I’ve seen the brilliance of our people. I’ve seen what happens when you give the soil a chance to breathe again.”
Growing coconut is nothing new to Filipinos. The coconut industry began to develop in 1642, following a decree from the Spanish Governor that mandated the planting of coconuts for food and for the production of galleons for the Spanish navy, as they had colonized the Philippines at that time.
The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) was established in 1973 to standardize the management of coconut cultivation in the nation. Its objective was to create a coconut industry that could compete on a global scale, a goal that has been realized, as the Philippines is now recognized as the world’s second largest exporter of coconuts.
Currently, 25% of the total agricultural land in the country is dedicated to coconut cultivation.
“(Coconuts are) part of who we are,” Apl.de.Ap stated. “We’re one of the biggest coconut producers in the world, yet our farmers remain among the poorest. We used to unquestionably be the largest. It’s not because the coconut has no value—it’s because we haven’t owned that value. We’ve let it slip away.”
Today, most of the coconut trees growing on our farms are already old. The singer said, “Yields are down. And if we don’t act, we’ll lose more than income — we’ll lose a legacy. This isn’t just about export or profit. It’s about the livelihood of millions of coconut farmers who continue to make less with each passing storm.”
By planting more coconuts, the Philippines can help stave off the effects of climate change.
“Our coconut areas could be developed for income generating carbon sequestration projects and carbon credit market,” pointed out PCA’s Severino S. Magat.
Carbon sequestration describes long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to either mitigate or defer global warming and avoid dangerous climate change. Carbon dioxide, in the form of gas, can be sequestered out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis. The carbon dioxide is converted into sugar by the plant or emitted back into the air through perspiration.
Carbon stored in plant parts other than the stem wood or trunk are generally decomposable biomass which eventually becomes a part of the soil organic matter of which the more stable component is the 50 percent soil organic carbon.
In his paper presentation entitled, “Productive and Sustainable Coconut Farming Ecosystems as Potential Carbon Sinks in Climate Change Minimization: A Review and Advisory Notes,” Dr. Magat explained the important role of the coconut lands against the negative impacts of climate change.
In coconut, as in most tree crops, carbon is stored or sequestered both by the biomass and the soil of the ecosystem, indicating that the biomass and the soil are the main carbon sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide. These “carbon sinks” could be regulated and managed to a great extent by following proper cropping practices, according to Dr. Magat.
A two-year study conducted by PCA showed the annual rate of carbon sequestration in local tall variety coconut crop is 4.78 tons carbon per hectare. That is equivalent to 17.54 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare, Dr. Magat claimed.
Dustin Hoffman, who starred in Kramer Vs. Kramer and Rain Man (both of which earned him the coveted Best Actor Oscar), once said: “The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and coconut milk.”
But there’s more to coconut than just coconut milk. In fact, there are a thousand products that come from coconut: copra, coco fiber, coco sugar, coco water, nata de coco, virgin coconut oil, coco peat, coco charcoal, vinegar, and of course tuba.
When it comes to food, coconut has a lot to choose from, the foremost of which is the popular buko salad. Shredded coconut meat is also utilized in other desserts such as macarons and buko pie.
