Sixty hectares of agricultural land in the first congressional district of Negros Oriental will be planted with hybrid coconut through the planting and replanting program of the Philippine Coconut Authority.

Provincial Coconut Manager Brendan Trasmonte said the program is expected to start in June, in time for the rainy season, which is an advantage for it.

He said the planting and replanting program in the first district is supported by Rep. Jocelyn Limakaichong (Neg. Or., 1st District).

Trasmonte said Limkaichong has allocated P5 million for the coconut development program. Of this, P 2.2 million will be used for the purchase of coco seednuts, while P2.8 will be for the intercropping program.

PCA Negros Oriental is expected to receive the first shipment of 100,000 coco seed nuts from the Zamboanga Research Center this month.

The seed nuts will be distributed to local government units in the first district each of which will put up its own coconut nursery.

Trasmonte said they have received positive feedback from the local government units, and the PCA has recommended a system to ensure the sustainability of the program.

The first district of Negros Oriental has 32,839 hectares of coconut area and more than 2.5 million trees are considered bearing based on PCA 2010 data.*MA