Antique: The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has commenced the distribution of coconut seedlings in Antique as part of its extensive planting initiative aimed at achieving the national goal of planting 100 million seedlings by 2028 under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan. An initial batch of 3,000 out of the 7,007 seedlings allotted for Hamtic was delivered recently. PCA Division Chief I for Antique and Aklan, Gregory Te±oso III, stated that the target is to cover 49 hectares in the municipality.

According to Philippines News Agency, farmers registered with the National Coconut Farmers Registry System (NCFRS) are eligible to receive the seedlings free of charge. Te±oso urged farmers to collaborate with their municipal agriculture officers to avail the seedlings. PCA has collaborated with the Hamtic Coconut Cooperative and the Belison Multi-Purpose Cooperative for seedling production and distribution.

PCA has allocated PHP8.5 million for this extensive coconut production effort. Specifically, PHP4.9 million was granted to the Hamtic Coconut Cooperative and PHP3.6 million to the Belison Multi-Purpose Cooperative to produce a total of 98,384 coconut seedlings for distribution, continuing through October of this year. The cooperatives received their funding during the 'Handog ng Pangulo 2026' event.

Currently, Antique has 53,624 farmers registered with the NCFRS, and the coconut population inventory stands at 2.3 million. This year, PCA aims to cover 639 hectares with its seedling distribution in Antique.