DA, PCA TO CONDUCT NATIONWIDE TRAINING ON NATURAL VINEGAR PRODUCTION

In a bid to fill in the expected supply gap as the government seeks for the removal of fake vinegar from local markets, the Department of Agriculture (DA) will conduct a nationwide training on production of natural vinegar derived from coconuts, spearheaded by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said DA is targeting coconut farmers and women’s groups as main beneficiaries of the program.

To kick off the program, the DA and PCA launch a one-day orientation event tagged as the “Natural Vinegar Production Program” today/May 28 at the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in Quezon City.

Subjects tackled during the orientation includes: (1) Status of the Philippine Coconut Industry and the Duterte Administration’s thrust to develop other high-value products from coconut; (2) Potentials of Natural Vinegar for Household and Industrial Uses; (3) Processing and Production of Natural Vinegar using Coconut Sap, Coconut Water, Nipa Sap, Sugarcane Juice, Banana and other fruits; (4) Introduction of the “Acetator” Equipment developed by the Department of Science and Technology which could process Coconut Water into vinegar in 16 hours; (5) DA-PCA Program for the Establishment of Village-Level Processing Facilities for Household and Industrial Vinegar; and (6) DA-ACPC Loaning Program for Agricultural Production to include production of household and industrial vinegar.

Secretary Piñol said experts, farmers and entrepreneurs whose expertises were focused on vinegar production will be invited.

“Among the leading companies is Green Life Coco Products based in Laguna which is producing 20-metric tons of organic coco sap vinegar and 60-metric tons of coco water vinegar monthly,” the Secretary said.

The agri chief stressed how vinegar-making, a traditional source of income for many coconut farmers in the country, have been left “ignored and neglected” by the government in the past.

He cited that in a yearly basis, about 3.5 billion liters of coconut water were being wasted instead of being used or utilized in producing other coconut product like vinegar.

“For coconut water alone, the country produces 15-billion matured nuts yearly with farmers focused only on harvesting the coconut meat and throwing away the other parts of the nuts, including water,” he said.

“Assuming that each nut contains 1/4 liter of coconut water, the volume of coconut water wasted is estimated at 3.5-billion liters,” he added. He even cited how a one liter of vinegar is being sold at the market for P50 while fruit vinegar was being sold at a higher price.

In that note, Piñol still believes that with the help of the government, the industry of vinegar-making from the coconuts will once again be revived and improved.

“With the consumers now getting more health-conscious and opting for healthy food, the production of natural and organic vinegar has a huge market potential provided the production process, including the packaging, is improved with government assistance,” he said. # Source - Kuhlin Ceslie Gacula/DA Press Office)