Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) – Capiz manager Jeffrey Delos Reyes said that the record excludes copra which was traded with at least 33 local accredited copra buyers last month.
“Copra trading at CASCOFAMCO averages only about 30 to 40 tons every month,” he noted, stressing that the fine weather and continuing PCA – initiated coconut fertilization have contributed a lot in the local coconut production.
PCA gears up for the second salt fertilization application this year.
The PCA official said that some coconut farmers sell their copra at CASCOFAMCO as copra traders in the municipalities could not financially cope up with the supply of raw material for coconut-based products.
Aside from copra, CASCOFAMCO also buys whole nuts at P3.00 each.
Delos Reyes added that there are about 60,000 whole nuts at the oil mill in Barangay Ondoy in Ivisan town.
“The high supply of copra has put the average selling price of the product at P12.50 per kilogram,” he stressed.
Based on PCA records, the average selling price of copra in the province has reached P42 a kilo in January 2011 due to the shortfall of coconut production brought about by the prolonged drought in summer of 2010.
Since then, an uptrend in the locak coconut production was observed until this month.
The province has more than 32,000 coconut farmers. (JCM/AAL/PIA 6 Capiz)
