Agri-tech project in PH resumes at 90% capacity

FILE: Chinese Ambassador-designate to the Philippines Huang Xilian (Photo by Joyce Ann L. Rocamora via PNA)

MANILA – The Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology – Technical Cooperation Program Phase III has resumed at 90 percent capacity, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said Tuesday.

“Ninety percent of the Chinese and Filipino staff are now working on the program that has resumed (at) 90 percent capacity, with no confirmed case,” the embassy said in a statement. “On February 5, they had a conference to plan out the prevention and control measures. Since then, they have adjusted the working plan, adopted flexitime schedules, taken the stringent management over the on-site staff, provided all the staff with sufficient anti-pandemic supplies, and sanitized the site on a daily basis.

”

The program was launched in October 2018 to boost the country’s palay (unhusked rice) production.

It is jointly implemented by the Department of Agriculture, the Central Luzon State University, and the Yuan Longping High-tech Agriculture Co.

, Ltd.

Since the start of the project, the embassy said at least 1,334 Filipino trainees were given on-site technological training, including hybrid rice seeding, cultivation, and mechanical transplanting.

Over the past three cropping seasons, the program has also cultivated 5,960 pieces of breeding materials with improved crop traits, 3,239 test mating pairs, and 1,958 heterosis combinations and finally selected 58 hybrid heterosis combinations and nine combinations with high yields, good quality, and high resistance.

The program has established techno-demo farms with a total area of 34 hectares in Tarlac, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and Davao Oriental, cultivating five varieties of hybrid rice.

“So far, it has produced a total of 18,000 hectares of hybrid rice, increased the yield by 21,000 tons, and brought benefits to over 9,370 households,” the embassy said.

The statement came after a virtual conference between Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian and the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology on Tuesday.