Project Background

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is the sole government agency that is mandated by the government to protect and develop the coconut industry in the country. With the recent enactment of RA 11524 or Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act (CFITFA) with the goal of improving the lives of coconut farmers and modernizing the coconut industry, it is imperative for PCA to revisit the existing coconut suitability assessments generated more than decades ago. PCA must come up with an enhanced protocol that can adapt to the agricultural challenges of present times brought about by climate change.

The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCAARRD-DOST) funded the project titled "Enhancement of the Field Assessment Protocols and Suitability Maps for Coconut", for a duration of six months with a budget of Php 2.69 million. The project was implemented by the Philippine Coconut Authority - Research and Development Branch (PCA-RDB) in collaboration with experts from the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) and the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). It focused on the determination, acquisition, processing, and analysis of essential geospatial data for the enhancement of existing coconut suitability maps. Geospatial data was provided by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

An in-depth analysis of the various factors affecting coconut farming was conducted. This involved the utilization of local remotely-sensed data on elevation, slope, soil type, rainfall, temperature, and land cover. Global gridded data on rainfall and land surface temperature were acquired from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to supplement the local data. Data on the areas planted with coconut, the geographical distribution of various coconut-related companies, and the incidence of coconut pests and diseases were also gathered for the plotting of these important socio-economic data.

The results of this study showed that a combined total of 19.9 million hectares of the country’s total land area are suitable for coconut planting. The suitable areas were classified into three classifications namely Highly Suitable (with 3.6 million hectares), Moderately Suitable (with 7.2 million hectares), and Marginally Suitable (with 9.1 million hectares) areas. On the other hand, 5.2 million hectares were classified as Currently Not Suitable for coconut planting. The return on investment might be low should coconut trees be planted in these areas. Of the total 19.9 million hectares of suitable areas, only 3.64 million hectares (17%) were planted with coconuts based on the PSA 2021 data. There are about 16.4 million hectares (83%) of potential areas for coconut planting with varying levels of suitability. One important factor to consider is that most of the areas not planted with coconut are devoted to other important land cover types like forests, perennials, and annual crops (rice, sugarcane, vegetables, etc.).

Utilization of various geomatics functions of the open source Quantum GIS (QGIS) software proves to be essential in this kind of enormous data processing and analysis, coupled with the generation of very detailed coconut suitability data and maps on a nationwide scale.

A second phase of this project shall be proposed to further improve the protocols and coconut suitability maps, and to develop an interactive online platform to enhance accessibility and extend its utilization to a much wider audience - the various coconut industry stakeholders. 

Important Note on the Use of the Enhanced Coconut Suitability Maps

In certain areas of the map, one can observe the absence of suitability ratings or values. This is due to the fact that the enhanced coconut suitability map is a product of the multi-criteria weighted overlay analysis. An area must have the complete raster values on all the essential factors (elevation, slope, soil type, rainfall, temperature, and land cover) in order to be included in the computation for coconut suitability. Areas that do not have raster values in any of the essential factors will not register any coconut suitability assessment values. This is to prevent these areas from being misrepresented or having an incorrect assessment value. 

DOWNLOADABLE ENHANCED COCONUT SUITABILITY MAPS + MEMO-DIRECTIVE FROM THE PCA ADMINISTRATOR

• Memorandum from the PCA Administrator on the Use of the Enhanced Coconut Suitability Maps

• Coconut Suitability Map of the Philippines

• Coconut Suitability Map by Region

• Coconut Suitability Map by Province

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of NCR

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of CAR

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region I

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region II

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region III

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region IV-A

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region IV-B

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region V

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region VI

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region VII

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region VIII

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region IX

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region X

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region XI

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region XII

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of Region XIII

• Detailed Coconut Suitability Map of BARMM