Big potentials seen in new makapuno hybrid varieties

BAYBAY, Leyte — New and highly productive makapuno hybrids developed by the Leyte State University (LSU) here holds great potential of considerably boosting the growth of the country’s makapuno industry.

Makapuno is type of coconut with creamy, soft, and thick meat that almost fills the entire shell of the coconut fruit. A versatile product, its meat is commonly used for making ice cream and an ingredient for halo-halo, cake, bread and pastry, and other desserts.

Before LSU developed the new makapuno genotype, the makapuno industry depended solely on the tall variety that bears fruits five to seven years after planting. Most tall makapuno-bearing palms produce only at most 25 percent makapuno fruits per tree and the embryo-cultured ones are vulnerable to unwanted pollination with normal coconuts.

Researchers of the LSU-based National Coconut Research Center-Visayas (NCRC-V) believe that the makapuno industry can greatly boost the country’s economy. A promising dollar-earner, the industry earned for the country $2.5 million in 1999.

Inspired by the industry’s bright prospect, the LSU research team led by Prof. Tessie Nuñez developed improved varieties to boost makapuno production.

Through controlled hybridization (crossing of different varieties to produce better ones), the researchers crossed LSU’s dwarf coconut varieties, coded as "V" series, with the tall makapuno variety from UP Los Baños, coded as "MAC".

As a result of their years of meticulous coconut breeding work, the LSU researchers came up with five new makapuno varieties, the first of their kind to be developed in the country and possibly all throughout the world. These are VOMAC-1, V-MAC-2, V-MAC-3, V-MAC-4, and V-MAC-5.

The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agriculture Research (DA-BA) has been obtaining planting materials from the NCRC-V for its projects in Lipa City (Batangas) and Tiaong (Quezon).

Others – among them the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), businessmen, congressmen, and private individuals – have been procuring makapuno planting materials for their respective projects. – Rudy A. Fernandez