ZAMBOANGA CITY - In answer to the call for the job generation by President Arroyo, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) in Western Mindanao is implementing a Nucleus-Farm Development Program in the Zamboanga peninsula.

Celedonia Palomar, PCA-Western Mindanao spokesman, said the project is geared toward the development of both productive and unproductive lands through planting and replanting of hybrid coconut and intercropping of
high-value commercial crops under or in between rows of coconut trees.

Palomar said the move will also involve massive fertilization,
generation of village-level processing of high-end coconut products, such as coconut fibers geotextiles for export, coconut methyl ester for biodiesel products, and production of virgin coconut oil for export, among others.

She said the mobilization of organized coconut farmers' cooperative that will handle the operationalization of the components of the program would translate to an increased level of economic benefits for the coconut farmers.

The whole set up, so-called the Cocozone, has a mass-base coverage stretching from the Zamboanga peninsula down to Misamis Oriental, which is established and operated in specific location called the grid. It is comprised of 1,000 hectares or more, where a massive formation of village-level small-and-medium-farmers' enterprises (SMEs) shall be
activated, according to Palomar.

The products produced by SMEs from these grids shall be exported to foreign markets like China and Europe, Palomar said in a press statement.