COCONUT retained its position as Mindanao’s top agricultural product from 2019 to 2023, maintaining its lead despite slight fluctuations in annual output, with the region producing a total of 44.6 million metric tons of coconut, followed by banana, palay, sugarcane, corn, and pineapple, and although coconut remained the region’s most produced crop, bananas overtook coconut as Mindanao’s top commodity in 2023 in terms of export value, with $1.22 billion in Free on Board value, while coconut exports generated $920.37 million, highlighting the need to boost value-adding efforts in the coconut industry, and Mindanao Development Authority Assistant Secretary Romeo Montenegro underscored the region’s vital contribution to the country’s food supply and export performance, emphasizing the need for the region to adopt economies of scale and align its practices with international standards to become more competitive globally, and to address climate change and other challenges, the region is promoting climate-resilient farming systems, upgrading infrastructure, and supporting the production of high-value and value-added agricultural goods, such as virgin coconut oil and organic cacao, with the goal of evolving into a more resilient and globally competitive agri-based economy.
