Climate change brought coconut harvest down, say execs

CAGAYAN DE ORO City—Coconut production in Northern Mindanao is on the decline and officials see no other reason for it but the effects of climate change.

Luis Cruz, manager of the Philippine Coconut Authority in the region, said erratic weather has pulled down Northern Mindanao’s coconut production by 7 percent early this year. The region produced only 380 million nuts early this year compared to 470 million nuts in the same period last year.

Cruz said among the region’s five provinces, Bukidnon posted the highest decline in coconut production.

The other Northern Mindanao provinces are Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental and Camiguin.

“While there was a tremendous increase recorded by Camiguin in green nut production, it was not sufficient enough to offset the decline,” he said.

Cruz said in the entire region, there was also a drop in copra production by 8 percent, or about 8,481 metric tons, during the first months of the year.

Cruz said in terms of coconut and coconut-related products export, Northern Mindanao also posted a decline during the first quarter from 146,329 metric tons last year to 90,566 metric tons this year.

The good news, he said, was that the increase in prices of coconut oil and an increase in copra prices made up for losses in the volume of exports. Tito N. Fiel, Inquirer Mindanao