BANGA, Aklan - “This is another promising opportunity for our smallholder farmers, we are thankful for this activity and we can’t wait to try it when we return to our areas,” recognized farmer association and cooperative members who attended the Training on Coconut By-Products (Coconut Chips) last July 19-21, 2023 at ATI Training Hall, ASU Compound, Banga, Aklan. Thirty coconut farmers from Aklan, Guimaras, and Capiz attended the said training.
During the three-day activity, participants were made aware of the government’s initiatives to help the coconut farmers through RA 11524, were able to maximize the potential of coconut by making coconut chips, and learned to add value to coconut chips by labeling, packaging, and marketing, and were oriented on the process of record-keeping and simple pricing and costing.
With enthusiasm and to maximize coconut ingredients, the batch was able to process additional by-products like coconut jam and sweetened coconut meat strips from the coconut meats that can’t be processed into coconut chips. Furthermore, they were able to differentiate the results of processing coconut chips over flame, through an oven, and in a dehydrator machine.
Resource Persons Lea Danasco and Mayflor Cepeda emphasized that for business to become productive and stable, the participants must be innovative and resourceful in utilizing the coconut meat in its different maturity stages.
The said training aims to capacitate coconut farmer associations in processing value-added products and is implemented through a partner implementing agency, the Department of Trade and Industry, under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Program (CFIDP).
