Depiction of a coconut farmer’s life

Copra is the dried meat or kernel of the coconut, which is the fruit of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). Coconut oil is extracted from copra, making it an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It is used as food as it is an important source of nutrients including proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Hot pressing the copra yields a low-melting oil that can be used in cooking and as a raw material for preparing hair oils, shampoos, detergents, margarine, and more. The residual material, known as coconut cake, is a valuable concentrated feed for livestock. One coconut palm nut can yield around 80-500 grams of copra. The Philippines is among the world’s top coconut producers.

Harvesting of coconuts (Pagkanggot)

Harvesting coconut begins when a para-kanggot uses a long pole with a sharp specialized sickle at the tip to cut the stem of the coconut bunch. The coconuts drop to the ground for gathering.

Gathering of coconuts (Pagtipon)

The farmer and his helper, gather the coconuts and collect them in piles preferably beside trails. The coconuts are then placed in a large basket made of bamboo (kangga) which, in turn, is placed atop a sled (pakapang) and pulled by a carabao. The coconuts are brought to the kiln or cooking pit area (agunan).

Removing the husk (Pagpalaw)

The farmer removes the husk by using a sharp, hand-made pointed instrument (palaw) that is made of steel (others are made of sharpened wooden stakes). One side of the coconut is driven into the instrument and pushed down. This removes one section of the husk Repeating this process four or five times removes the entire husk. This is a difficult task that requires skill to estimate the force one would need to peel off the husk from the coconut.

Splitting the coconuts (Pagbat-ak)

The farmer splits open the unhusked coconut. He makes sure that the cut is straight in the middle. This is done by using the back of the cleaver to strike the center of the coconut crosswise with a strong hand, while the other hand is holding the coconut steady either against a flat and hard surface or by holding the coconut by the palm of his hand.

Copra cooking (Pagluto)

Coconut farmers carefully arrange the halved coconuts in a kiln (agunan) which is a copra cooking pit with bamboo slats as flooring. Some wood and mainly dry coconut husks are dumped into the pit to fuel a slow fire to cook the halved coconuts into copra. The cooking takes about 8-10 hours.

Removing the copra from the shells (Pagting-kal)

When the copra within the shells is ascertained to be cooked, the farmer together with a few helpers removes the meat using a sharpened scraping tool attached to a contraption where the farmers can sit or squat and thereby scrape the cooked coconut meat out of its shell. The copra is placed on a pile of which some are still in need of further cooking and the majority are readily cooked and ready to be collected into jute sacks. The pile of copra that are not yet cooked are cooked for a few hours and then later put into sacks

Copra in jute sacks are hauled and transported to a preferred buying station for selling

Coconut farmers usually sell their produce in preferred buyers. They are weighed by the kilo, appraised of their moisture content (which is deducted from the gross weight of the copra produce) finally estimated by the buyer.

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