After Super Typhoon Odette (Rai) wrecked Southern Leyte province last year, only 110,000 coconut seedlings are provided to farmers, replacing the more than three million trees damaged by the calamity.
According to the report from the Philippine Coconut Authority, Southern Leyte 2nd district Representative Christopherson Yap said that the coco seedlings are just as a faction of the trees toppled and sheared by the destructive typhoon.
Yap said that the small number of tree seedlings is not sufficient to cover the losses and provide a slow recovery to the province.
He added that the small number of coco seedlings will take a long time for the coconut industry and farmers in Southern Leyte to recover from the devastation of Odette.
More than 10 million coconut trees were damaged as the typhoon struck parts of Visayas and Mindanao.
Most trees are in Panaon Island, under the second congressional district of the province.
Meanwhile, Yap said that he somehow understands that the PCA cannot immediately provide the required coconut seedlings to the region, since there is a limited capacity as the source in Zamboanga.
Currently, the PCA focuses its efforts on clearing operations to ensure that newly planted coconut trees will not be affected by the infestation. The operation is expected to be finished before the end of the year.
