Copra Business in the Philippines

The Philippines coconut trees occupy about 25% of its cultivated lands. Therefore a great
percentage of people are partially dependent on coconut farms. The Philippines is the second top
producer of coconut products after Indonesia, but it is the top exporter of coconut productsor
coconut oil in the world. But as of December 2009 according to Wikipedia, the Food and
Agricultural Organization Statistic Division has a new semi-official record that the Philippines is
the Top producer of coconut products, producing 19,500,000 tonnes, and Indonesia 15,319,500
tonnes.

People there in the Island have sort of a laid back lifestyle. It is very pleasant and peaceful to
live in the coconut plantation area. Far away from the hustle and bustle life in the city of
Metropolitan Manila, they live peacefully and happily, even if there is not enough income. The
air is very clean, far away from pollution. Even if it’s hot, the soft breeze of the wind blowing
compensates for the heat and is very cooling. The coconut land owner provides livelihood to
those who have no land and want to work for wages. Coconuts are harvested once every 2 or 3
months depending on how much fruit to harvest, and the land owners will hire workers for the
harvest season. The number of workers depends on how large is the coconut plantation, usually
one or two workers, if it’s only 1 hectare. I appreciate and salute all the workers who harvest
coconuts by climbing the trees one by one. In other place where the coconut is still young and
shorter they would just use a long bamboo, attached a sharp knife on the tip and use it to cut off
the cluster of mature coconut from the top of the tree.

The Copra-Making Process

Copra is the term for the coconut finished product that is ready to sell to the merchant who, in
turn, sells to the coconut oil mills.

 Harvesting -

Harvesting coconuts is one of the hardest jobs in the world. Some other coconut harvesters might
say differently if they use easier methods of harvesting.

This is the method that I know:

To harvest the coconuts, the worker climbs to the top of the tree, and using a sharp, slightly
curved knife, cuts down the mature bunch of coconuts, or dislodges them one by one. The
worker is expert in deciding which coconut fruit is mature enough to make into Copra. How do
they climb the tall trees? When the coconut is younger, during the first harvest, they make a cut
on the branch of the tree, alternately from one side to the other side going upwards. This serves
as their stepping platforms when they climb the tree.

 Piling & Hauling

As they climb all the trees, somebody on the ground will be gathering and piling up the coconuts.
Using a primitive bamboo cart (no wheels) attached to the shoulder of a Carabao or water
Buffalo, they start loading the cart and the Carabao will pull the cart with the coconuts to the
work area where they pile them again.

 Removing Husk

They remove the husk by using a sharp semi-pointed instrument that is made of steel, hand made
and attached to wood to give support. The steel is then inserted into the ground very firmly, and
by plunging one side of the coconut to the instrument then pushing down and out removing one
section of the husk, doing that about four or five times until the entire husk is removed. This is a
difficult task that requires strength.

 Splitting the Coconut in Half

When splitting the coconut, they make sure the line is straight. This is done by using the back of
the cleaver to strike the center of the coconut crosswise, quick and strong, while the other hand is
holding the coconut steady either against a flat and hard surface or by holding the coconut in the
palm. Please don’t attempt this at home if you are not an expert in splitting coconuts.

 Drying the Coconuts

This can be done in two ways:

- One way is to dry them under the heat of the sun. It will take a little bit longer to dry this way.

- Another way is to heat them with fire. The coconut farmers would build a hut ( bamboo house
or a shack) with no walls (just roof and floor) and is about 3 feet above the ground. Then they
will pile the coconut halves on the floor of the small hut. After that, they will pile some of the
coconut husks on the ground underneath the bamboo hut, but not too much so the hut won’t
burn. Use a torch to light the piled coconut husks and keep an eye on the fire. It should be
medium to low. When the fire is getting low, add some more husks until the coconut is ready to
scoop. They can tell because it will turn brown and will separate a little bit from the shell. But
they can’t apply too much heat because it will burn. The bottom pile will be finished first. If the
bottom is done, you can stop the fire and let it cool down. Then they will remove the ones that
are done and place them in another working area. If some of the top ones are not done, they
separate them and heat them again until done.

 Scooping The Coconuts from Its Shell and Selling the Coconuts

This is done by using an instrument that slightly curves towards the tip and is semi-pointed.
Usually, they are handmade with a wood handle and designed for their comfort. They scoop the
dried coconut meat out of the shell. When everything is scooped, they will start to cut them into
4 to 6 pieces for each coconut half. Then it’s time to put the Copra inside the sack and get ready
for selling.
If the coconut plantation is far from the road, they will use the same cart and Carabao to pull the
cart to transport the sacks of Copra to the nearby main road where there are motorcycles to carry
the sacks to the nearby town where they sell the Copra to the coconut merchants.

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Copra production is an important enterprise. Without copra production, there would be no palm
oil on the supermarket shelves.

In the Philippines, copra production may be a family business. The whole operation may take
place on a couple acres of land adjacent to the family dwelling.

The first step on the road to copra production is to get some mature coconuts. This is easily done,
since neighboring farmers have to sell their coconuts somewhere. Also copra producers may
have coconut plantations of their own.

Coconut palms grow to a towering height. Some fall down by themselves, but most have to be
cut down. This is done by a long bamboo pole with a sickle-shaped knife tied to the end. This
device is called a kuhit in the Cebuano language. Sometimes extra poles have to be tied to the
end of the kuhit so that it can reach the coconuts.

Some farmers prefer to climb the coconut palm and cut off the ripe coconuts with a machete.

Many Philippine farmers do not have trucks. To convey the coconuts to the site of copra
production, they use a horse. They tie two large baskets to the horse in such a way that one
basket hangs down on each side. Even if the farmer has a truck, he still needs the horse to carry
the coconuts away from the trees to a convenient place. It is difficult, if not impossible, to drive a
truck to each tree on a typical Philippine coconut plantation.

When the coconuts arrive at the site of family copra production, the work begins. Typically, a
family hires neighbors to help them.

A coconut has an outer fibrous husk which is called bunut in Cebuano. These husks are removed
with the help of a device called a buntanan. This is a Y-shaped frame with a pole sticking up and
a mitten-shaped knife at the end of the pole. It is also possible to use a machete or an axe, but
these are not as effective as a buntanan.

The husks are allowed to litter the ground for a while, but later they are stored in a building that
looks like a U.S. corn crib.

Inside the husk, a coconut has a hard shell which is called a bagol in Cebuano. The coconut shell
is cut in half by striking it with the machete.
Inside the coconut shell is the edible part of the coconut. This is removed with a device called a
lugit. A lugit has the following components: a handle attached to an S-shaped bar with a sharp
circular disk at the end. A worker takes hold of the handle and gouges out the coconut meat with
the sharp disk.

The coconut meat is converted into copra in a structure called a landahan. A landahan has an
open pit for fire below and a horizontal bamboo frame above. The coconut meat is placed on the
bamboo frame, where it is heated by the fire.

In the safest type of landahan, the fire is not directly below the bamboo frame, but off to one
side. In this case, a cement conduit or tunnel channels the heat of the fire, so that it travels
horizontally through the passage and then upward to the bamboo frame, upon which the coconut
pieces are resting. The bamboo frame is enclosed by a low cement wall to concentrate the heat
on the coconut pieces. Sometimes wood is used instead of cement for the wall.

The preferred fuel is the dried husk of the coconut. The fire must be tended. Dried coconut husks
are added as needed. The coconut pieces have to cook all day and part of the night before they
are converted into copra.

The next day, when the landahan is sufficiently cool, the well cooked pieces are separated from
the half-cooked pieces. The half-cooked pieces are placed on the bottom next to the bamboo slats
and the cooked pieces on top. The landahan fire is kindled once more and the coconut pieces are
allowed to cook for about a day. When the cooked pieces become cool, the process is finished.

There are variant methods of processing copra. The coconuts may be cooked before removing
the shell. Sometimes fire is dispensed with altogether and the coconut pieces are simply allowed
to dry in the sun.