"Tree of Life” – that is what we call the coconut palm. I remember when I was young in the small town of Quezon–Gumaca, my parents taught me that coconut is a tree of life. Coconut is a tree of a thousand uses. It is an important economic value as all parts of it are useful.
From coco meat can be obtained coco flour, desiccated coconut, coconut milk, coconut chips, candies, bukayo or locally sweetened shredded coconut meat, latik, copra, and animal feeds.
Copra is dried coconut meat that has a high oil content. Coconut oil is the most readily digested of all the fats of general use in the world.
Coconut leaves produce good-quality paper pulp, midrib brooms, hats and mats, fruit trays, waste baskets, fans, beautiful midrib decors, lamp shades, placemats, bags and utility roof materials.
The coconut fruit produces buko, often used for salads, halo-halo (crushed ice with sweetened fruit), sweets and pastries. Buko is of three kinds: mala-kanin, or having the consistency of boiled rice; mala-uhog, mucus-like consistency and ready for eating; and mala-katad, or like leather. The last kind is the one used for making sweets.
Coconut water is also called liquid endosperm. It is thrown away during copra making and becomes a great waste. Uses of coconut water include coconut water vinegar; and coconut wine; production of the chewy, fiber-rich nata good as a dessert and as a laxative; as a growth factor; and as a substitute for dextrose.
Coconut husks are made of bristle fiber (10%), mattress fiber (20%), and coir dust and shorts or wastes (70%).
The abundance of fiber makes it a good, stable supply for cottage industries that make brushes, doormats, carpets, bags, ropes, yarn fishing nets, mattresses, etc.
Out of its pith can be produced coco pickles, guinatan, and lumpia. Its guinit can produce helmets, caps, wooden shoe straps, handbags, fans, pictures, and house decor like lamp shades and guinit flowers for the table.
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| A rare original Philippine Constabulary guinit helmet from the collection of Jojo Dy. Photo courtesy of Albert Labrador |
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| Albert Labrador is also one of the reenactors in the book. He is a Constabulary Infantryman in this photo, wearing guinit helmet. Photo from the Mandirigma coffee table book |
Coconut Shell - Coconut shell produces the core of the most saleable household products and fashion accessories that can be turned into lucrative, wide-selling cottage industries. Among them are shell necklaces, shell bags, cigarette boxes, shell ladles, buttons, lamp shades, fruit and ashtrays, guitars, placemats, coffee pots, cups, wind chimes, “coco banks”, briquette charcoal and activated carbon.
I rose in copra making with my parents. This job is very hard because there are different processes before you can bring it to the market. But the price of copra is not so competitive even before until now. How about the life of the coconut farmers? Their life is not moving and changing. One of the reasons is - they cannot feel the support of our government. Why the Philippine government has not made a concerted effort to invest in research and technology to develop the industry and export a wide array of products, including desiccated coconut, coconut oil, virgin coconut oil and coconut milk amongst others.
Farmers are hoping to hear about the Philippine government and what are the programs for the coconut industry. I think concerned agencies need to establish more infrastructure and government support through various means. Associations for each subsector must conduct research on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis and update their members regularly on changes in the daily market price. A variety of cooperative models are in place as well to support poor farmers. In some cases, farmers have contracts directly with companies, eliminating the need for middlemen.
Authorities can learn from seeing how other countries supported their growing coconut industry. We must understand the potential for industry development and also establish collaboration between the government and the coconut farmers.
