SECRETARY DAR, JAMES REID CELEBRATE 'PAG-AHON'

To celebrate “PAG-AHON: Sa Palay at Gulay – May Ani, Hanapbuhay, Oportunidad, at Nutrisyon," the Project Harvest Festival in Lupao, Nueva Ecija, the DA team, led by Agriculture Secretary William Dar and Youth Ambassador for Food Security James Reid made the rounds of vegetable farming and gardening sites that showcase food production technologies in barangays San Pedro, San Antonio Weste, San Antonio Este, and Alalay Grande.

A joint partnership between The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the Lupao local government unit, East-West Seed Company and the Lupao Vegetable Growers Association, the roots of the project are: 1) crop diversification to increase productivity and income of rice farmers, 2) establishment of community food hubs to mitigate issues on access to seeds and food resiliency, 3) rice-veggie techno-demo “gulayan sa palayan” to showcase the benefits of rice-vegetable technology, and 4) vegetable seeds/seedlings distribution.

As part of the festivities, the team also graced the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for four projects to be implemented, namely the: 1) Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (CenTrAD), 2) Precision and Digital Agriculture Center (PreDiC); 3) Organic Vegetable Production Technologies using Vertical Farming System, and 4) seed and seedling production for vegetables and fruits.

Rounding off the festivities, Secretary Dar then led the groundbreaking for the CenTrAD and visited the PreDiC and rice derby sites at the CLSU.to be implemented by the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) with a budget of P304.5 million.

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