Coconut and copra production in Catanduanes went down by 34 percent in 2025, a year after super typhoon Pepito struck the island, statistics from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) provincial field office showed.
According to data provided by Acting Senior Agriculturist Karen L. Rodulfo and Division Chief I Sofia Juserhine Bucad, estimated production of coconuts from the 11 municipalities dropped to 23,173,500, a sharp decline from the 35 million nuts recorded in 2024.
Copra production similarly went down from 7,792 metric tons in 2024 to 5,150 MT in 2025, the PCA stated.
The same data show that of the 315 barangays of Catanduanes, 246 are said to be producing coconuts.
A total of 1,167,114 trees is planted on 18,858.63 hectares of coconut land, of which 66 percent are fruit bearing.
Of the 23,262 coconut farmers in the province, only 7,194 were registered in the National Coconut Farmers Registry System (NCFRS) as of 2025.
The considerable slide in coconut and copra production last year is likely due to the effects of the 2024 super typhoon, which struck the northern half of the island on November 16-17, 2024.
Agriculture officials estimated Pepito’s damage at P1.15 billion to the abaca and P144 million to coconut farmers who lost a potential 1,321 metric tons of coconut production.
Records of the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the same trend was noted after super typhoon Rolly wrought heavy damage at the southern half of the island in November 2020.
Local farmers harvested only 2,945 metric tons of mature coconuts in 2021, down by 30 percent from the 4,176 MT a year earlier, resulting in a 73-percent increase in the retail price of mature nuts.
The PSA data also indicated the production of sap or “tuba” has declined beginning in 2019 when it stood at 5.43 MT, with latest data showing just 3.47 MT produced in 2023.
On the other hand, the production of young coconuts has rebounded to 77.45 metric tons in 2023, compared to 60.49 MT and 65.34 MT in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
It is expected that the 2025 data will reflect even lower production figures as the province was hit with its second successive super typhoon.
The Provincial Agricultural Services Office (PASO) reported in the Pepito aftermath that the abaca sector sustained P1.244 billion in total damage, including the total fiber loss, while the coconut industry’s 3,423 farmers lost P188 million worth of production from 2,772 hectares of planted area.