By Manny Piñol
La Trinidad, Benguet – Potato farmers in the Cordillera today received 81 tons of planting materials imported from Canada in a program aimed at making them competitive against imports.
The planting materials could give them yields of up to 20-metric tons per hectare per harvest.
The seeds were provided by Universal Robina Corporation (URC) through the facilitation of the Canadian Government.
URC President Lance Gokongwei earlier committed to provide local potato farmers planting materials so that they could produce better quality potatoes.
URC is currently importing a potato variety for chipping which is not produced locally.
As a gesture of goodwill when the Department of Agriculture assisted URC in importing chipping potatoes, Gokongwei promised to help local potato farmers.
Aside from the Cordillera farmers, URC will also be giving imported planting matetials to farmers in Talakag, Bukidnon and Davao del Sur.
URC said the next move would be to teach farmers to plant the chipping potato variety so the corporation will not have to rely on imported supplies.
(Photos by Alan Jay Jacalan and DA AFID team)
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