A bio engineering technology using what was considered before as  farm waste is being suggested to prevent soil erosion in sloping areas and in river banks in Negros Oriental by Philippine Coconut Authority provincial manager Brendan Trasmonte.

The coconut husk, or “bunot” in the dialect, and a byproduct of copra, can be processed into coco nets similar to that of a geotextile, Trasmonte said.

He added that the decorticated coco fiber can be twined and weaved into nets that can be installed in slopes or in river banks as mitigating measures. If the technology is acceptable and adopted by local government units, Trasmonte said the PCA can assist in the training and installation of the concept.

After the coconets are in place, vegetation is allowed, like the planting of vitiber, a kind of grass whose roots can penetrate up to three meters underneath the soil. The water-holding capacity of this technology can increase with the planting of trees and bamboos along river banks, he added.

The process will not only generate jobs for coconut farmers, weavers and decorticators, but will also save the government more than half the cost of constructing dikes, Trasmonte said.

Raw material is also not a problem because there are about nine million coconut trees in the province.*JG

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