TACLOBAN CITY—East-West Seed joined the recent 16th National Vegetable Congress here in support of the government’s commitment to boost the vegetable industry towards global competitiveness and resilience, as this city showed in the aftermath of Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”
Over 1,000 stakeholders from the Philippine vegetable industry gathered during the congress. East-West Seed highlighted the company’s efforts that contribute to building climate-smart and resilient farming communities in the country.
Dr. Roberto Acosta, EWPH Knowledge Transfer Manager, cited the following initiatives: breeding climate-resilient crops; promoting the use of grafted seedlings against soil-borne diseases; and educating farmers to adopt climate-smart technologies.
The East-West Seed team also prepared an exhibit booth and two demonstration plots where they shared modern farm technologies and best farm practices, and showcased best-selling and new varieties like Bella F1 (pumpkin) and Pia F1 (butternut pumpkin).
In her keynote speech, Director Jennifer Remoquillo of the Department of Agriculture’s National High Value Crops Development Program emphasized that the vegetable industry contributes greatly to the livelihood of the Filipino farmers.
“A big chunk of the budget of HVCDP goes to vegetable because we believe that we can easily augment the income of farmers through the industry,” Remoquillo added.
For example, a 1,000 square meter of land planted to ampalaya or bitter gourd will give a farmer the same income as one hectare planted to rice.
East-West Seed, having deep roots in the ASEAN region and as a champion of farmers, fully supports the government and the agriculture industry in giving opportunities to smallholder farmers to make them globally competitive and resilient.
The 16th National Vegetable Congress was organized by the Philippine Vegetable Industry Development Board and Eastern Visayas Farmer-Officers Association, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Training Institute, Visayas State University, City Governments of Tacloban and Ormoc, and the Provincial Government of Leyte.