Lady farmers in Quezon get into coco coir geo-net making

LUCENA CITY, Quezon – The Provincial government, headed by Quezon Governor David C. Suarez, is pushing an agribusiness program on livelihood to augment the daily income of women farmers by engaging in coconut geo-net making.

Initially, the program has selected 20 women-farmers from Barangays Cawayan 1, Cawayan II, Ibabang Tayuman, and Ilayang Tayuman in San Francisco town. They underwent hands-on and on-sight training on coco fiber utilization, more particularly in the production of geonets or eco-friendly nets made out of coconut, under the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO).

Provincial Agriculturist Roberto Gajo said that agricultural services have been undertaken as part of the Livelihood Projects for Coconut Farmers Federation in Quezon, with center in Pagbilao town.

Quezon province is known as the “country’s coconut capital,” where extensive coco farming activities, research, and development are implemented to boost coconut production — such as the now popular coco sugar with the vast “makapuno” breeding site in Alabat, Quezon and its agricultural trade fair and “Niyugyogan Festival” annual festivities in August, Gajo said.

The livelihood project is part of OPA’s mission on the empowerment of farmbased organizations; entrepreneurial development among farm families and the systematic, balanced, integrated, complementary utilization, management, conservation of physical and natural resources for sustainable agricultural development in the province, he added.