Philippine Coconut Authority

Overview

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) facility at Ubay is the coconut seed production center for Central Visayas, occupying a 250-hectare property in Barangay Calanggaman. Rows of dwarf coconut palms run in even lines across the grounds, fronds trimmed on a schedule that keeps rat and insect pressure down. It is first a working seed nursery, and only secondarily a place a visitor can walk through.

Coffee, banana, cacao, camote, and corn are intercropped between the coconut rows — an agroforestry layout rather than a monoculture stand, which spreads farm income across several harvest cycles instead of one.

Location

Barangay Calanggaman, Municipality of Ubay, Bohol. The facility is near Capayas Dam and the DBP Forest in the same barangay cluster.

[FACT NEEDED: precise GPS coordinates; distance and travel time from Ubay town center]

Getting There

Ubay is approximately 120 km northeast of Tagbilaran City (roughly 3–3.5 hours by bus or van). From Ubay town, habal-habal or tricycle to Barangay Calanggaman. The facility is noted as near the DBP Forest and Capayas Dam, which can help locate it in the absence of GPS coordinates.

[FACT NEEDED: specific habal-habal or tricycle route from Ubay town center; road quality to Calanggaman]

Practical Info

• Property size: 250 hectares
• Primary function: coconut seed production (dwarf and hybrid varieties) for Central and Eastern Visayas
• Intercropping: coffee, banana, cacao, camote, corn, and other high-value crops
• Seed distribution: thousands of seed nuts and seedlings shipped across Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas
• Key program: Participatory Coconut Planting Project (PCPP) — incentive-based replanting support for coconut farmers
• Farmer benefits under PCA programs:
  • Free 72 dwarf or hybrid seedlings for farmers with a spare half-hectare
  • PHP 40 per seedling (4–5 months in nursery) if seedlings are farmer-produced
  • PHP 45 per live transplanted seedling upon transplanting
• No admission fee is documented; visits are a casual roadside stop rather than a formal ticketed tour
• [FACT NEEDED: formal visiting hours; whether guided walking tours of the plantation itself (beyond the roadside office stop) are available]

What to Expect

The 250 hectares of uniformly planted palms create long sight lines across the property, broken up by the intercropped sections. A first-hand travel account describes stopping at the PCA office and being offered complimentary buko-based chocomilk and local delicacies — a roadside pause rather than a ticketed tour. Whether formal visitor programming beyond that kind of stop exists is not confirmed. The primary traffic here is farmer-beneficiaries collecting seedlings or attending training, with picnicking visitors a secondary use of the grounds.

The proximity to Capayas Dam and DBP Forest makes Calanggaman a viable cluster stop on an eastern Bohol itinerary.

Notes

• The PCA Ubay facility distributes dwarf and hybrid coconut planting material to municipalities throughout Central and Eastern Visayas — it functions as a regional supply hub, not just a local agricultural site.
• The PCPP program blends participatory and incentive-based approaches; farmers who join through an organization receive payment for nursery and transplanting work.
• [TO ENRICH: current formal tour availability and whether individual visitors need appointments for anything beyond the roadside office stop]

Bohol Backpacking: Exploring Ubay and Alicia (Day 1), accessed 2026-07-17.