The Philippine Coconut Authority in Negros Oriental is encouraging farmers to avail of the Participatory Coconut Planting Project, provincial manager Brendan Trasmonte said.

Trasmonte said the PCPP is an innovative, incentive-based, participatory and produce immediate production. It is in line with the continued increase in the demand of coconut products in the world market, he said.

Transmonte said every farmer who will avail of the program will receive P30 per seedlings. He added that the PCA will pay P5 for every good seednut sown by the farmers in their own seedbed.

Another P5 for every good seedlings at least two feet tall grown and maintained on the seedbed for five months, and P20 for every good transplanted seedling with three feet tall which was stabilized in the field for about five months during the rainy season, the PCA said.

A PCA memorandum says that the project should be implemented immediately in order to ensure that the seednuts are laid on the seedbed before the end of January 2008.

This is to give ample time for the seednuts to germinate and grow up to June, in time for transplanting in July, it added.

The coconut seedlings are transplanted in July so that they would have sufficient time to grow normally on the ground and stabilize, and can survive the onset of the dry season of the following year.

Trasmonte said that the project is open to everybody interested to plant coconut. They may visit the PCA office or the local coconut officers in the cities and municipalities of the province to avail of the program, he added.*RG

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