Shocking Agricultural Crisis Looms For One of The World’s Largest Coconut Producers Thanks To The Chemical Industry

Marco Torres, Prevent Disease
Coconut oil is one of the healthiest oils in the world, and you may have noticed the price creeping up in the last few years. One of the reasons is due to the looming agricultural crisis in the Philippines, one of the world’s largest coconut producers. The coconut industry, which supports millions of Filipinos is slowly dying because of a massive insect infestation that has to date claimed 2 million trees. The irony is, the infestation is easy to arrest using inexpensive organic means, but the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has sold out to the chemical industry which may kill the entire coconut economy that the Philippines and much of the world depends on.

Of the 340 million trees in 2012, 40% are too old, leaving the industry with 204 million productive trees, according to PCA figures. Typhoon Yolanda, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, devasted the Philippines on November 8th, 2013. It was recorded as the deadliest Philippine typhoon ever killing at least 6,268 people. Yolanda destroyed 33 million trees, and the infestation has so far destroyed 2 million, leaving the nation with a net of 169 million trees. Due to Yolanda and the infestation, the maritime southeast Asian nation has lost 20% or a fifth of all their coconut trees.

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