Saturday, September 24, 2011

Agri department to launch goat raising technology





THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is bringing in the goat raising technology in Northern Samar this week after noting that animal population in pilot areas of the region has doubled in the past three years.
Wilson Cerbito, Department of Agriculture regional technical director for research and regulations, said that with these gains, the project will be introduced in San Roque, Northern Samar.
“The local government there is interested to adopt the Rural Enterprise Development (RED) approach in goat production. We will conduct orientation. We have been advocating this project to local officials for them to adopt this protocol,” said Cerbito, the national and regional focal person of the RED project for goats.
The official said that based on their latest inventory this year, the number of goats in eight pilot towns and cities in the region went up to 1,722 from 811 in 2008.
“The population must be higher than reported, considering that we only counted animals that were not sold during the day of inventory,” Cerbito said in an interview.
Eastern Visayas, the only pilot area of RED project outside Luzon, has posted the highest increase among the four regions that pushed the initiative.
Cerbito claimed that government interventions in goat production are upgrading of native stocks, improving housing, proper feeding, provisions of herbal medicine, and provision of hybrid breeder.
The DA also extended financial support and marketing assistance to 180 farmer-partners in 25 villages of Tabango,  Villaba, Ormoc City, Matag-ob, Jaro, Sta. Fe, and Tacloban City in Leyte, and Calbayog City.
“The project is done in these areas but it is now continued by farmer’s association. We continue to monitor their activities and assist them on their special needs,” Cerbito added.
He pointed that this is not the usual dispersal program of the National Government. “We just provide quality male breeder and introduce the production technology to them.”
RED Program applied the participatory approach in a bid to secure local government support, make goat as priority commodity, identify community problems, and draft solutions.
“The farmer-partners were capacitated with technology and entrepreneurial trainings. They were exposed to various goat production methods in different areas through educational tour; participation in goat congresses, trade fairs, and festivals,” Cerbito added.
The official claimed that the strategy has opened the consciousness to the variety of ways they can earn a living from goat raising.
“After building awareness of farmers, they were then given the leeway in choosing technologies that could solve their individual farm problems,” Cerbito said.
The RED project has been implemented in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Eastern Visayas. Different interventions have raised goat population in pilot areas from 3,290 in 2008 to 6,108 this year.
The main goal of the RED project is poverty alleviation and to transform the old system or traditional way of goat raising into an enterprise. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)

Coco Coir Processing Firm To Be Established In Baybay





BAYBAY CITY -- A Chinese coconut husk processing firm will soon open in this city after it gets pertinent papers to start operation, Mayor Carmen Cari said.
Cari said the firm, whose products are to be shipped in China, already acquired a property in the city where it will construct its processing plant in about six months from now.

Baybay is generally an agricultural city, with farming as a major means of livelihood. Among its most common crops are palay, corn, abaca, root crops, fruits, and vegetables.
Cari said with the infestation of its major crops, including abaca; she hopes that the plant will provide alternative livelihood and source of income among her constituents.
Cari added a Japanese firm also visited the city to look for a possible site for the construction of its plant.
“They want their processing plant to be near coastal area because they are also planning to put up their own wharf,” she said. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Philippines reaps $15M for investment in coco trade



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NEW YORK—President Benigno Aquino III on Monday received an unexpected $15-million investment pledge in the Philippine coconut industry in the next four years following meetings with business groups, officials said.
A stream of American executives called on Mr. Aquino in his hotel, expressing enthusiasm in his efforts to create a new business environment and offering to expand investments in the country, according to Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang.
Among the callers were representatives of the US giant Pepsi Corporation, the US beverage company Vita Coco and its local affiliate Fiesta Coco Equity, and outsourcing firms Convergys and EXL Services.
Carandang said that the President was in “good spirits” after the beverage company executives told him about the huge global market for coconut water and its touted medicinal values for the health-conscious consumers.
“These companies want to source the demand for coconut water from the Philippines. So this is a big opportunity for our coconut industry and for our farmers,” Carandang said.
PepsiCo did not say how much it plans to invest in the country but it was serious in its plan to expand its coconut harvesting operations, he said.
Coconut rebirth
Vita and Fiesta officials told Mr. Aquino they planned to invest $15 million over the next four years not only to harvest coconut water but also in planting more coconut trees, Carandang said.
“There’s a lot of room to bring rebirth to the industry in general,” Vita CEO Michael Kirben told reporters later.
“We expressed a lot of interest in the planting of coconut trees to revive the coconut industry because we noticed that a lot of the trees are senile,” said  Fiesta president Romeo Chan.
Jeffrey Fox, president and CEO of Convergys Corp., said that he confirmed to Mr. Aquino his company’s “long-term commitment to invest in the Philippines.”
Bill Bloom, executive vice president of EXL Services, whose clients include Global 1000 companies, said his firm had chosen the Philippines as one of its “model centers.”
“That would include work that is typically provided to physicians, nurses or lawyers or accountants and we’re building models such that we can offer those services to our clients here in the US from our centers in the Philippines,” Bloom said.
Credit upgrade
Carandang also said the economic team was seeking a meeting with the credit rating agencies to “make a case that our fiscal management right now probably deserves a second look as far as ratings are concerned.”
Some of the economic managers will stay behind after the President departs on Wednesday to work for a review of the country’s sovereign credit rating that was believed to be underrated by two to three notches, he said.
In a speech before the US Chamber of Commerce, US-Asean Business Council and Philippine-American Chambers of Commerce at the Peninsula hotel, Mr. Aquino said there was “much reason to be optimistic” about the country’s future.
“Government’s fiscal management has improved to the point where we have been able to increase spending in vital social services and national defense without raising taxes this year,” he said.
Prudent spending and vigilance against corruption have resulted in savings which have been channeled toeducation, health and poverty alleviation, the President said.
4 ratings upgrade
This prudent spending has prompted government critics to “accuse us of not spending the public funds enough,” Mr. Aquino said, referring to fears that this policy could result in the government failing to meet its growth target this year.
“We are now seeing the results of a government working doubly hard, not just to improve the overall business environment but more importantly to advance the lives of its people,” the President said.
He said that since he took office, the country had gotten four positive rating actions in over a little more than a year, a big difference from the one upgrade and six downgrades during the almost 10 years of the previous Arroyo presidency.
The Philippines was ranked 75th in the World Economic Forum’s 2011-2012 Competitiveness report which Mr. Aquino said was “a full ten notches above our ranking in the previous report.”
He said that his administration is committed to level the playing field as it rebuilds its institutions, “especially those crucial to my pledge of curbing corruption.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Aquino is scheduled to address the joint meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, where he will outline his administration’s development agenda. With a report from Michelle V. Remo