Maitum, Saranggani – After spending the night in the town of Kiamba, I and Fil-Am farmer-scientist Rocky French took the western coastal highway of Mindanao en route to Cotabato City Saturdayn and discovered so many food production potentials along the way.
Just as we entered the town of Maitum, Saranggani’s last town . before Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat, nakita namin ang isang medium-sized Vannamei or White Shrimps Farm just beside the highway.
The ponds built in area which was about 500 meters away from the shoreline had plastic liners keeping the shrimps clean and free from diseases and equipped with automatic feeders and paddle wheels.
I was so happy seeing those Vannamei ponds already established even in remote areas of the country because before the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte this industry was handled by only a few companies and rich individuals.
The technology was not readily available and most of all, the production materials called PL for Post-Larvae or young shrimps, were only sourced from Hawaii.
At that time, a huge agro-industrial company from Thailand, CP Foods International, wanted to invest in a Vannamei PL Hatchery in the Philippines but they met all sorts of opposition and accusations that their Vannamei materials were inferior and diseased.
Curious to validate this claim, I personally made a trip to the CP Foods Vannamei Hatchery in Rayong Province, Thailand and inspected the facility.
Satisified with what I saw, I helped CP Foods enter the Philippine White Shrimps Industry and now they are all over the country assisting local companies and farmers with technology-sharing and making available the PL, including the shrimps feeds.
The investments required for a White Shrimps Farm is quite high and beyond the reach of ordinary farmer but this is a problem which could be addressed through enabling legislations and policies which would give them access to easy credit.
Rocky French said Philippine-produced White Shrimps have a distinct advantage because it tastes better than those produced in South America.
While most of the production of White Shrimps now are marketed only in the Philippines because of the comparatively good price, its potentials as an export commodity are very bright.
Napakalawak ng area ng ating bansa for this industry but we also have to be careful so that there will be no local over-supply.
This early, a government-initiated marketing program both locally and internationally must already be prepared.
Ito ang isa sa mga legislative advocacies ko, the reactivation of the National Food Authority (NFA) to serve as the international marketing agency of Philippine Agriculcutural and Fisheries products.
Locally, the Food Terminal Incorporated must also expand its operations all over the country para sila ang mamimili ng mga produkto ng magsasaka at mangingisda at mabebenta nito sa Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Outlets sa malalaking lungsod tulad ng Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Clark and up north in Baguio.
With technology available, credit and a marketing infrastructure which would assure our producers of a good price and return for their labor, the Philippines could achieve Food Self-Sufficiency.
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