CCCI, PIVAC and Profood ink MOU for agri-biz collaboration

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY—The Philippine Inno Ventures Agriculture Cooperative (PIVAC), Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and Profood International Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and partnership for more agri-business collaboration during the “Plant Propagation” Integrated Farming Learning Series and Workshop on May 30 at the Golden Prince Hotel and Suites hosted by PIVAC and CCCI.

“The abundance of fruits in the Philippines, particularly bananas, pineapples and mangoes should have made our country the best fruit exporters in the world but there are challenges we have to address, such as the need for financial resources, trainings and efficiency improvements to support the export of these fruits,” Joven Uy of Profood International Corporation bared.

Mango farming, exporting and other business initiatives are with a great competition in Southeast Asia, Uy added that competing with Thailand and Cambodia in the mango industry is the country’s biggest challenge despite having better quality fruit.

The MOU among CCCI, PIVAC and Profood served to bridge that challenge that needs potential solutions. According to the agreements, PIVAC shall engage farmers to encourage in planting fruit trees and crops as part of this agricultural endeavor.

The Chamber on the other hand agrees to facilitate avenues by creating platforms to provide market access and finance in the agricultural endeavor between Profood International Corporation and PIVAC.  Profood International Corporation, on its part, agrees to purchase all the produce from the farmers engaged by PIVAC at market price.

The signatories of the MOU were; Joven Uy of Profoods International Corporation; Rey Calooy, Vice-Chairman-Philippine Inno Ventures and Agriculture Cooperative (PIVAC) and Benny Que,Trustee, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

The Plant Propagation lecture and workshop is the 2^nd of the Integrated Farming Learning Series initiatives of the Philippine Inno Ventures Agriculture Cooperative (PIVAC) in collaboration with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) that aims to educate and engage the youth and other plant enthusiasts the value of agriculture for food self-sufficiency and sustainability.

“We want to educate and engage our youth, especially those students taking agriculture courses to value and love farming, learn the myriad methods of plant propagation, soil health and preparation.  PIVAC advocates for anything and everything organic farming methods and to inspire households and families to engage in backyard gardening for self-sufficiency and healthy life, Rey Calooy, VP-PIVAC told this writer.

According to Calooy, some 60 participants attended the Plant Propagation learning workshop and these were agriculture students from Tuburan, farmers practitioners, Agripreneurs, retired farmers, some agriculturists and gardening enthusiasts who had the grandest time in interactive learning as the speakers showed and guided them during the practical applications.

The speakers were farming experts from the agriculture sector in Central Visayas and topics/subjects presented include Notes on Regenerative Agriculture by Roberto Bajenting, Plant Propagation Techniques by Cecilleper Caintic of the Dept. of Agriculture.