Caluya: The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) will be providing incentives to coconut farmers in the island municipality of Caluya under the Coconut Hybridization Program. Gregory Te±oso III, PCA Division Chief I for Aklan-Antique provincial office, said in an interview on Thursday that they will be procuring 122,000 coconut seed nuts under the program in December to be grown by farmers in Caluya.

According to Philippines News Agency, coconut farmers will receive incentives for cultivating the seed nuts in their nurseries. The PCA will offer a PHP25 incentive for every seed nut cultivated in the nursery and another PHP35 for each seedling planted. The seed nuts, procured from a Coconut Farmers Association, are a local tall variety that could produce more fruits in a shorter span of time.

PCA has identified Caluya as a program beneficiary to replace senile coconut plants and encourage more farmers to continue engaging in coconut production. Caluya in Antique has approximately 6,000 farmers with 700,070 coconut plants. The coconut plants in Caluya are mostly senile and need replacement as they are no longer productive.

A coconut farmer could avail as many as 72 to 400 coconut seedlings for free, depending on the area they own. A farmer with half a hectare could avail of 72 seedlings, while a farmer with a three-hectare area could have up to 400 seedlings. To participate in the program, farmers must be registered with the National Coconut Farmers' Registry System, the official database maintained by PCA to identify and verify coconut farmers.