Aquaculture project! Fil-Am Farmer Scientist Arrives in Cotabato Today

Filipino-American farmer-scientist Rocky French, who introduced the Solar-Powered irrigation System to the Department of Agriculture in 2016 and trained Filipino aquaculturists on Tilapia hatchery operations, is arriving in Cotabato Province today after completing a six-day quarantine period in Manila.

French had been engaged by a group of retired US Navy Officers of Filipino ancestry to help in the establishment and operation of a Mariculture Project to be established in Parang, Maguindanao and in other parts of Mindanao, especially the Bangsamoro Region.

Upon his arrival in Kidapawan City today, I will personally lead him to a newly-completed village feed mill in Km. 114, Kidapawan City which will be utilized initially to produce Aqua Feeds which are in short supply in Mindanao today.

Next week, French and I will travel once again to the Western coastal areas of Mindanao facing the Moro Gulf to explore the potentials of fish cage farming.

French will also initiate a demonstration farm on the production of natural nitrates using Golden Kuhol or snails fed with Malunggay leaves to produce organic Urea.

A grandson of an American soldier from Kentucky who fought in the Spanish-American war and settled in Passi, Iloilo where he married a local lass, French was raised in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat.

He was involved in the Parks and Wildlife work before he established a Tilapia fishpond in the middle of the desert in Coachella Valley by pumping water from the aquifer using Solar-Powered Irrigation Pumps.

With the help of French, I hope to start an On-Line Learning School for Agriculture and Fisheries to entice the young Filipinos to join the country’s food production program.

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!

(Photo shows me introducing Rocky French to President Rodrigo Duterte during the launching of the Solar-Powered irrigation System in M’lang, Cotabato in March 2017.)