29-February-2008 SEARCA News Release
Feb. 26, 2008 - Two weeks ago, the Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) focused on why coconut farmers should not be poor. This time, Dr. Rita P. Laude discusses the need for improving the lauric acid content of coconut (Coco nucifera L.).
Few people know that the coconut is endemic to the Philippines. The Philippine coconut is the country’s major export crop primarily because of its lauric oil content. The lauric oil is a fatty acid derived from coconuts and has a high price in the world market because it is a major ingredient in making cooking oil, soaps, and many others.
However, with the introduction of Canola oil, a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada, the value of coconut oil decreased. Thus, in 1999, a group of scientists from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) started to develop a coconut variety with high lauric content.
This project was funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD).
Laude is currently the Vice-Chancellor for Instruction in UPLB. She is also a professor at the Institute of Biological Science in the same university. (Ranell Martin M. Dedicatoria, KMU)
