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Group Warns Government Against Turning Mindanao Into Palm-Oil Hub
Group Warns Government Against Turning Mindanao Into Palm-Oil Hub
11/06/2013 (Business Mirror) - A private research group here cautioned the government against turning Mindanao into a center of palm-oil production, saying this would directly threaten existing coconut plantations, the island’s major agriculture export crop.
The Alternate Forum of Research in Mindanao (Afrim) said it was alarmed by the government’s positioning of Mindanao as an ideal area for palm-oil production and the recent pronouncement of an oil manufacturer to develop an oil palm plantation in Davao Oriental, the coconut capital of the Philippines.
Afrim also expressed concern over a report by government socieconomic planning unit, Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) that it is considering Mindanao as a palm-oil hub. The agency has identified 900,000 hectares as possible plantation areas in Mindanao, of which 177,000 hectares are already under negotiation.
The group said turning Mindanao into a palm-oil hub “poses a great threat to the coconut industry, one of the island’s major export products.”
Afrim is also worried over the announcement of a big oil firm, First Pacific Oil Co. Ltd., that it would consider developing 30,000 hectares of land in Davao Oriental for palm-oil production and processing.
“This province, which suffered Typhoon Pablo’s wrath in December 2012, especially the east coast where majority of coconut farmers are, has been the top producer of coconut for years, producing 1.04 million metric tons last 2011,” the group said.
“These moves toward massive oil-palm plantations in Mindanao may result to the ultimate demise of the coconut industry where 3 million coconut farmers across the country rely on and majority are in Mindanao,” Afrim added.
Instead of making a new investment plan concentrating on palm oil, Afrim said government may maximize “the potential of the existing coconut industry in the island.”
“Providing adequate support to coconut farmers [i.e., capacity building on planting food crops, product value adding] that they will not rely solely on copra will result to increased income for the benefit of small farmers,” the group said.
Afrim also noted recent data, which revealed that global demand for coconut oil, although fluctuating at times, has remained constant. In the case of the Philippines, however, the group said coconut production has been decreasing for the past five years.
The group said the coconut industry “has long been neglected in terms of support services, budget allocation and policy support to revitalize this so-called sunset industry.”
Afrim said the government may consider diversification of coconut products and not solely rely on coconut oil for exports to maximize its market potential.
Romeo Montenegro, chief of Minda’s Investment Promotion and Public Affairs Division, said Afrim’s concern was “understandable as it also focused on food security.”
“But to clarify things, the number of hectarage that we have identified are all idle lands, with no major agricultural activities or crops in them,” Montenegro told the BusinessMirror.
He said most of the areas identifed for planting oil palm were in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which have been abandoned by tillers due to periodic armed skirmishes in the region. The ARMM is composed of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur in central Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the southwest.
Montenegro said the promotion of palm oil was a decision that was “carefully crafted” so as “not to run contrary to any other agribusiness activities and crops that are also being promoted in parallel ways.”
“It should be made clear that efforts at pushing the viability of palm oil was more of looking at taking advantage of the available areas for this crop,” he added.
The Alternate Forum of Research in Mindanao (Afrim) said it was alarmed by the government’s positioning of Mindanao as an ideal area for palm-oil production and the recent pronouncement of an oil manufacturer to develop an oil palm plantation in Davao Oriental, the coconut capital of the Philippines.
Afrim also expressed concern over a report by government socieconomic planning unit, Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) that it is considering Mindanao as a palm-oil hub. The agency has identified 900,000 hectares as possible plantation areas in Mindanao, of which 177,000 hectares are already under negotiation.
The group said turning Mindanao into a palm-oil hub “poses a great threat to the coconut industry, one of the island’s major export products.”
Afrim is also worried over the announcement of a big oil firm, First Pacific Oil Co. Ltd., that it would consider developing 30,000 hectares of land in Davao Oriental for palm-oil production and processing.
“This province, which suffered Typhoon Pablo’s wrath in December 2012, especially the east coast where majority of coconut farmers are, has been the top producer of coconut for years, producing 1.04 million metric tons last 2011,” the group said.
“These moves toward massive oil-palm plantations in Mindanao may result to the ultimate demise of the coconut industry where 3 million coconut farmers across the country rely on and majority are in Mindanao,” Afrim added.
Instead of making a new investment plan concentrating on palm oil, Afrim said government may maximize “the potential of the existing coconut industry in the island.”
“Providing adequate support to coconut farmers [i.e., capacity building on planting food crops, product value adding] that they will not rely solely on copra will result to increased income for the benefit of small farmers,” the group said.
Afrim also noted recent data, which revealed that global demand for coconut oil, although fluctuating at times, has remained constant. In the case of the Philippines, however, the group said coconut production has been decreasing for the past five years.
The group said the coconut industry “has long been neglected in terms of support services, budget allocation and policy support to revitalize this so-called sunset industry.”
Afrim said the government may consider diversification of coconut products and not solely rely on coconut oil for exports to maximize its market potential.
Romeo Montenegro, chief of Minda’s Investment Promotion and Public Affairs Division, said Afrim’s concern was “understandable as it also focused on food security.”
“But to clarify things, the number of hectarage that we have identified are all idle lands, with no major agricultural activities or crops in them,” Montenegro told the BusinessMirror.
He said most of the areas identifed for planting oil palm were in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which have been abandoned by tillers due to periodic armed skirmishes in the region. The ARMM is composed of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur in central Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the southwest.
Montenegro said the promotion of palm oil was a decision that was “carefully crafted” so as “not to run contrary to any other agribusiness activities and crops that are also being promoted in parallel ways.”
“It should be made clear that efforts at pushing the viability of palm oil was more of looking at taking advantage of the available areas for this crop,” he added.