Farmers groan over plunge in coco prices; seek probe

An alliance of coconut farmer organizations in the country is seeking urgent government intervention to help farmers stem the plunging price of coconut, which, they said, has caused added sufferings on their livelihood that is already hurt by the rising prices of goods.

Eduardo Mora, president of the Pambansang Kaisahan ng Magbubukid sa Pilipinas (PKMP), said government also needs to investigate what has really been causing this “monumental freefall” on the prices of coconut.

“We call on our government to act immediately because farmers are so demoralized right now by this very low price of coconut. Our worry is they may soon be forced to abandon the industry,” he said in Filipino.

According to Mora, coconut farmers are grumbling over the selling prices of coconut, which, he said, took a “drastic plunge” in July.

“In July and August, prices started falling to the P25-P26, which was already painful, but still manageable for our farmers. This month, prices have fallen to P15 level, which is already unbearable,” he said.

He said government, through the Philippine Coconut Authority, needs to undertake drastic measures to provide immediate relief to farmers, which, he said, are being forced to take on other forms of livelihood to help their families survive.

“They also need to spell out publicly what concrete measures they intend to do. And if they believe they cannot do anything, then they should admit it in public so farmers will not be banking on false hopes,” he said.

He said the proceeds of the P75-billion coco-levy fund must be used mainly on program that will directly benefit the poor farmers, and not distributed among all stakeholders of the coconut industry.

“Most wealthy landowners do not need any support, so why will government still give them their share of the coco-levy?”

Mora said an inquiry must be made to determine whether this plunge in prices of coconut meat is really driven by international market, or is being manipulated by unscrupulous traders.

“Our farmers are already bleeding from the high cost of food and other commodities, but could not even break even with this very low price of their products. If this is not addressed, it will be a matter of time before our farmers would abandon the industry and shift to other sources of livelihood,” he said.

PCA Administrator Romulo Dela Rosa supported the calls aired by the farmers groups, saying the agency was aware of the difficulties they faced due to the low selling price of copra.

He said this sagging of selling prices is inevitable because the local market is driven by international trade.

“Since our coconut oil only takes up about 2-percent of the total market of raw materials for vegetable oils, our coconut industry does not have capability to determine, or to influence overall price in the vegetable oil industry,” he said.

As a short term solution, the PCA is also calling for the immediate implementation of Republic Act 9367, or the Biofuels Act, which mandates all diesel fuels sold in the domestic market be blended with 5-percent coco methyl ester (CME) content, he said.

On the long term, the coconut industry needs to look at strategies to diversify and find other markets for the Philippines’ coconut produce.

He thumbed down proposals for government to provide subsidy to drive a higher selling price for coconut, saying this might only replicate the problem as that which is now hounding the National Food Authority, on the looming rice shortage. /jpv