Apl.De.Ap's coconut project is more than just planting 100M trees

October 22 ------ Apl.De.Ap. has piloted his coconut project in Liliw Laguna last week, an ambitious project of planting 100M coconut trees across the Philippines, that he first shared with GMA News Online in July.

Together with some 20 farmers from across the province, the popstar displayed his know-how of intercropping, an old farming practice of planting different crops on the same land. At the 30-plus-hectare Esmeris Farm in Liliw, Apl planted various seedlings of malungay, cacao, and coffee between young coconut trees that were already standing, quelling initial fears of plantations and monocropping. "Before I moved to the US, I come from a farming family, so I used to help my grandfather, tending to a lot of water buffaloes and also tending to crops like sweet potato, corn, and kamoteng kahoy," Apl tells GMA Integrated News.

By employing intercropping, the initial aim of planting 100M coconut trees has not only extended to 380M trees, but has also ensured healthier soils and most importantly, is now poised to provide coconut farmers with additional crops to their portfolio. "We're going to go above and beyond, creating a food forest," Apl said. "So intercropping around the coconuts can help replenish the soil and provide extra revenue for the farmers." 

In the pandemic, Apl took the opportunity to go back to his roots in agriculture. In the same time, he met Sadhguru, an Indian yogi and mystic, "who taught me about soil degradation and the danger of degradation around the world." "As a farmer, I took that as a challenge and a responsibility," he said. In going back to his roots, Apl found himself in Brookes Point in Palawan sometime in 2023, where "we saw coconut husks rotting and being burnt to make space, and coconut water being thrown away and cooking the sheet. And we thought, there's a better way of capturing the value of the coconut," he said.

Apl got into biochar, a byproduct of organic waste that can improve soil, saying "Coconut has the best carbon to create biochar." Pretty quickly, his initial project on biochar led him to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) who made him into the coconut ambassador. In May this year, they even signed an MOA. 

In September, Apl also brought his project to the Senate, speaking with the likes of Senators Risa Honitveros and Kiko Pangilinan. "We’re trying to create a system for the small farmers who own two hectares, small farms for their products to hit the global market. We're gonna figure out how to build industrial hubs so we could process the real value of these coconuts," Apl continues. They plan to work with cooperatives, local government, and farmers themselves. "That's why we're doing the pilot here [in Liliw, Laguna], so it's easier for people to to understand. When you see it, you get it, you know?"

After Laguna, his team returned to Brooke's Point in Palawan and planted the first coconut tree of the project. "Such a circular moment to plant our first coconut tree here in Brooke’s Point, where I began my soil journey," he wrote on social media. "This project is going to consist of new, barren land and existing coconut lands that need to be intercropped or supported. Thank you to the PCA and everyone for this continued mission," he added.

Source: gmanetwork.com