Coco sugar and other organic products from Lanao del Norte sold like the proverbial hotcake at the 2009 National Livelihood Trade Fair at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City under the auspices of the Philippine Chamber of Handicrafts, Inc. and the Congressional Spouses Foundation, Inc.

Besides coco sugar, the other organic products from Lanao del Norte included honeymansi with pineapple, honeymansi concentrate plain, pineapple marmalade, bangus in corn oil packed in glass container, coco honey and coconut vinegar which are all manufactured without any preservatives.

A lot of people bought the coco sugar although the price is much higher than the sugar from sugarcane. The coco sugar is in the form of fructose which is superior healthwise compared to the sucrose in the ordinary sugar from sugarcane.

Former Gov. Imelda Quibranza Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte explained that the relatively high price of coco sugar is due to the fact that it requires much more effort and hard work to make. The sap of the unopened flowers (toddy) is extracted from the coconut tree which is cooked to make coco sugar.

Coco sugar is in demand not only in the Philippines but also in other countries. It is now exported to countries in Europe as well as Korea and Japan. There are also other producers of this unique product in Misamis Oriental.

Congressman Abdullah “Bobby” Dimaporo (2nd district, Lanao del Norte) has been very supportive to agricultural production, not only in farm crops but also in livestock. In fact, he has been responsible for putting up the biggest dairy cow operation in the country. Lately, he imported more than 2,000 Savanna goats from Australia for commercial production by farmers in his province.

Lanao del Norte, by the way, tops the list of growing economies with a gross domestic product growth of 5.3 percent in 2008, the highest among the regions during the period.

Written by Danny Junco

Source: Manila Bulletin