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Some
26 coconut farmers in 4 barangays of Gandara, Samar each
received around 75 dwarf coco seedlings from the Philippine
Coconut Authority (PCA-Samar), during the Samar Peace and
Development Caravan on Tuesday, February 19, in Brgy. Sto. Niño,
Gandara, Samar. This new variety of coconut starts to bear fruit
after 4 years from planting at a trunk height of barely 4 feet. |
Gandara (Samar)
farmers to plant 2000 dwarf coconuts
By PIA-Samar
February 19, 2013
CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar –
Gandara farmers who joined the Samar Peace and Development Caravan
organized by the Office of the Presidential Adviser (OPAPP)and the LGU
of Samar received 2,000 dwarf coconuts.
Philippine Coconut
Development Authority (PCA-Samar) Chief Meinard Montano sought the
help of the army in transporting the seednuts to the barangay.
Dwarf coconuts said Montano
may not grow as tall as the native coconuts but its fruits are as
productive as the native coconuts.
“They also mature early that
they can bear fruits as early as 5 or seven years, unlike the other
species that bear fruits at ten years old,” explained Montano.
Some 26 coconut farmers
scampered for listing as they thought it exciting and something
different to try growing dwarf coconuts.
Jose Alejan, 58, a farmer
from Barangay Sto. Niño said he asked for 200 pieces to be planted in
his farm, he added he will grow these intercropped with his
jackfruits.
Farmers from the four
barangays of Natimonan, Sto. Niño, Pizarro and Heparayan quickly
claimed all 2,000 coconut seedlings in a jiffy.
“Let us plant coconuts in
the bald hills,” Montano urged the gathered folks from the four
barangays. As Gandara has wide fields planted with palay, the hills
that seem to demarcate them are bereft of vegetation.
The Department of
Environment and Natural Resources also brought mahogany seedlings to
be planted in the idle hill lots that surround the ricefields.
