Team Agriviz from AIM bags East-West Seed’s Innovation Olympics Championship

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Asian Institute of Management ( AIM ) students presents E- magsasaka paltform, and won Championship at the grand finals at East-West Seed’s Innovation Olympics held at 8 Waves Waterpark and Hotel in Bulacan. 

An E-magsasaka platform converts farmers to agri-preneurs.

Team Agriviz

Team Agriviz, composed of Aiah Sarmiento, Gorby Dimalanta, Aaron David, and mentored by East-West Seed’s Downstream Marketing Manager Dexter Difuntorum, takes great pride in their e-magsasaka online platform which hopes to address two of the major problems of our farmers: lack of direct access and lack of market information between buyers and growers. 

The e-magsasaka online platform hopes to minimize the involvement of middlemen which would increase the farmers’ revenue by at least 20% and keep the prices of vegetables more affordable for the consumers. 

The platform would have a database where buyers could find the farmers that could provide the produce that they need. At the same time, the farmers could also use the database to find the market to sell their produce.

During the 6-month pilot stage, Team Agriviz worked with farmers’ cooperatives, local government units and vegetable buyers to ensure that the e-magsasaka platform would significantly benefit the entire ecosystem of vegetable production.

Team Agriviz bested two other student groups—Team Pocket Farm and Team i-Agri Ventures, both from University of the Philippines Los Banos. 

Team Pocket Farm composed of Vince Maningas and Arvin Garcia was mentored by East-West Seed’s Project Manager, Martin Hinlo, thought of using the cellphone as a tool to help the farmers in determining the moisture level of their farm lands and prompt them through text messages on when to water their vegetables and how much water their plants need. 

Intelligent sensors that assess the moisture content of the farms are linked to the farmers’ cellphone and triggers the prompt.

Claiming 80-90% accuracy in determining moisture content, the Pocket farm device hopes to address the oftentimes erratic system of farm irrigation, a major factor in vegetable production.

Team Pocket Farm 

Team Pocket Farm piloted their device in petchay farms in Los Banos and Calamba and are hopeful that their gadget could help increase farmers’ produce by as much as 40-50%.

Team Pocket Farm received the East-West Seed Employees’ Choice Special Award for their concept.

Team i- Agri Ventures

Team i- Agri Ventures, on the other hand, came up with a solar-powered multi-crop dryer that could significantly cuts post-harvest loss and create new markets for vegetable farmers. 

Zeroing in on the irony specific to tomato growing where there is an oversupply of fresh tomatoes during peak season and, as a result, price plummets down from P15 per kilo to P5 per kilo.

Team i-Agri Ventures, composed of Jonas Ruzgal, Jayson Fumera, and Mark Limbo from UP Los Banos, hopes to address this problem through their multi-crop dryer, effectively converting excess fresh tomatoes to sun-dried tomatoes and creating an alternative way for farmers to sell their produce.

Team i-Agri Ventures mentor Arthur Cabacungan said that most tomato growers do not have storage facility and are, thus, forced to sell their excess produce at more than 80% less its actual value. However, with their solar-operated dryer, farmers get to convert their excess produce to dried tomatoes catering a different market like hotels, restaurants and caterers who are keen to using sun-dried tomatoes as replacement for fresh tomatoes. 

Team i-Agri Ventures is optimistic that their multi-crop dryer could help hike farmers’ revenue by as much as 30%.

INNOVATION OLYMPICS

Innovation Olympics 2017 was launched as part of the East-West Seed’s 35th anniversary last year with the theme, “Growing Opportunities.” East-West Seed, founded in 1982 by Dutch seedsman Simon Groot and Filipino seed trader Benito Domingo, is the first integrated vegetable company in the Philippines and one of the 10 biggest tropical vegetable seed producers in the world. 

“One of the major pillars of East-West Seed is learning and innovation. And so far, we have trained and enabled close to 50,000 smallholder farmers on proper vegetable farming techniques,” Henk Hermans, East-West Seed Philippines General Manager, said. 

Innovation Olympics, he adds, is a manifestation of East-West Seed’s commitment to address the two biggest problems facing vegetable farmers in the Philippines.

“Farmers represent the 2nd poorest sector in the Philippines. This sad reality results in our our young people ‘s disenchantment of pursuing a career in agriculture. The average age of Filipino farmers is 57-59 years old that is why we have to inspire our youth to discover the beauty of farming. We at East-West Seed know that there is money in vegetable farming and it could be a solid route in improving the lives of our people. Another problem is that farming practices in the Philippines are outdated and majority of our farmers are reluctant to use technology in farming making their work labor intensive and unsustainable,” Hermans said.

Through the Innovation Olympics, East-West Seed hopes to harness the minds of the youth to come up with their own innovative technological intervention. Students from different multiple backgrounds come up with sustainable solutions to improve productivity in vegetable farming, effectively addressing two major farming concerns: integration of technological innovations to improve vegetable production and to inspire the youth to consider farming as a professional goal and be ambassadors of modern day agriculture. 

“East-West Seed will continue to pursue ways on how to better equip Filipino vegetable farmers, inspire the youth to use their passion for technology in coming up with more innovative ideas for the farming sector and hopefully influence them to become the new breed of Filipino farmers,” Hermans adds.

       

Jardine inks five-year deal with SeedWorks for new hybrid rice seeds

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Jardine is introducing quality hybrid rice seeds such as TH-82, US-88, and Quadro Alas in its deal with SeedWorks,

Taking part in the Philippines’ bid to strengthen its rice sufficiency, Jardine Distribution Inc. (JDI) inked a five-year distributorship agreement with SeedWorks for its US Agriseeds hybrid rice seeds last January 18 at the SeedWorks office in Singapore.

Jardine Distribution, Inc. currently has in its portfolio quality hybrid rice seeds such as TH-82, US-88, and Quadro Alas – all aimed at boosting the government’s efforts to make the Philippines a top rice exporter in the world once again. This significant move will likewise help local farmers produce substantially better rice and provide a hedge against abnormal weather patterns such as the lingering El Niño in the country right now.

Jardine inks a five-year distributorship agreement with SeedWorks for its US Agriseeds hybrid rice seeds to help the country improve its rice sufficiency.

Present at the contact signing were Edwin Hernandez, JDI president; Carlos Saplala, SeedWorks Philippines general manager; Dr. Balaji Nukal, managing director of SeedWorks International Pvt. Ltd.; Wilson Kwong, JEC chief executive officer; and Roberto Luis Littaua, JDI’s marketing manager.

“Jardine acknowledges both the importance of rice production in the country and its impact on the Philippine economy. The company is thus doing its part in improving local rice production by providing quality hybrid rice seeds that will help our farmers attain optimum harvest and minimize losses,” JDI president Edwin Fernandez averred.

While in Singapore, the JDI team ensured the quality of the seeds they are bringing into the country by visiting the biotechnology facilities of SeedWorks—a state-of-the-art technology center that serves the biotech requirements of the company as well as those of other seed companies.

A featured product in the JDI and SeedWorks partnership is Quadro Alas, a type of hybrid seed that is perfect for Philippine weather, can be planted all year round, and is highly resistant to rice diseases. The Quadro Alas also promises high-quality long-grain rice.

Jardine Distribution, Inc., a member company of the Jardine Matheson Group, represents a number of leading brands in crop protection, local and foreign-made pesticides, plant growth regulators, plant nutrition, hybrid rice seeds, and vegetable seeds.

For more information, please visit www.jardinedistribution.com. 

At the cob of the matter: Corn in the Philippines

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When you hear the word corn, the vision of eating hot, buttered corn-on-the-cob may come to mind, or fields and fields of corn plants growing along highways. Indeed for Filipinos, corn is the second most important crop after rice. But do you know that only 21% of the total corn in the country is used for consumption, while majority or 64% of corn supply is used to feed livestock to produce meat and poultry?

Unsheathing corn

The corn you typically see roasted and eaten on the cob is the white corn. With smaller but sweeter kernels, white corn is the most important and healthy rice substitute in the country. On the other hand, yellow corn, while edible, is mostly intended for livestock and poultry feeds with its larger and fuller-flavored kernels. Perhaps most importantly, local pork, beef, and poultry for our lechon, burgers, and fried chicken get their richness and tastiness from the animal feeds usually made from corn. Corn makes up 70% of feeds used to produce treats for our carnivorous countrymen.

And in case you didn’t yet know, corn can also be found in thousands of everyday items around us. From the corn starch that holds cakes and pastries together to corn oil, people have found different uses for corn. There are currently more than 4,000 ways to use this popular crop, and people are discovering even more ways to use corn every day.

Planning for tomorrow’s food from the ground up

Corn is thought to have been first grown 7,000 years ago. The traditional way of growing corn is slow and painstaking, but technology is now dramatically changing the way we cultivate and harvest our food. Today, there is a modern approach to help growers raise healthy, high-quality corn crops. Through modern plant breeding, a way to bring together two specific parent plants to produce a new desirable plant, local farmers now have a better way to grow and bring food to our tables.

As corn takes an important place in Filipino farming and cuisine, Monsanto took a similar approach in helping farmers have better harvests by introducing the first biotech corn in 2003. It developed the biotech corn to be more tolerant to nature’s different challenges, like plant diseases, pests and changing temperatures. Over the past 30 years, 1,000 plus studies including the World Health Organization, European Food Safety Authority, and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have been conducted to prove that there are no health and environmental impact in the use and consumption of biotech crops, including corn. According to the studies, using or consuming biotech corn have no effects on human health, while planting biotech corn maintains ecological balance, posing no threat to other plants and to animals. 

Corn plays an important role in making sure we have enough food to eat and have access to fresh produce. So the next time you see unending rows of corn fields along the highway, think about how such a humble crop can make a positive impact to our everyday lives.

DOT joins ABS-CBN’s Bantay Kalikasan's Green Initiative

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Photo shows (from left) Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, ABS-CBN president Charo Santos-Concio, ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. managing director Gina Lopez, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and Ateneo de Manila University acting VP for Loyola schools and dean of science and engineering Evangeline Bautista during the launching of Green Initiative.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) last May 6, 2013, with media conglomerate ABS-CBN to launch Bantay Kalikasan’s Green Initiative.

A joint program involving ABS-CBN Foundation Incorporated’s (AFI) Bantay Kalikasan, the government, media, and academe, Green Initiative responds to protect and nourish the country’s natural biodiversity, while alleviating poverty and enriching the lives of people through various livelihood projects.

Other signatories of the MOA are the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (DENR-PAWB) represented by Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Ramon Paje, Secretary of Agriculture Proceso Alcala, and the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU).

Under the MOA, each signatory is to implement strategies that are geared towards improving the quality of life in the grassroots. The DOT, for its part, is tasked to facilitate the investment of tourism infrastructure and complementary facilities through convergence projects with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), paving the way for more tourism opportunities. DOT will also take the lead in promoting the projects as prime tourist destinations in the country.

On the other hand, ABS-CBN Corp. commits to manage and ensure the media exposure of projects, with the support of Miss Earth Foundation in public relations and marketing aspects.

“My conviction is that we would not only alleviate poverty but also drive in a new paradigm of thinking, one that benefits the environment and the community,” ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc. Managing Director Gina Lopez said.

The DOT has been a long-time partner of the ABS-CBN Foundation’s Bantay Kalikasan in promoting and positioning the Philippines as a world-class ecotourism destination. Some of the joint projects in the past are the ecotourism sites of Sibuyan and Cobrador Islands in Romblon, Puerto Princesa, and Brooke’s Point in Palawan, and La Mesa Ecopark in Quezon City.

“The complex issues of climate change and biodiversity are some of the biggest challenges facing society today. Going green is no longer just a fad, no longer for a small slice of the population. Going green has rather become a necessity and lifestyle in which we all must participate for the welfare of future generations.  The Philippines is uniquely positioned to lead the way, and the DOT remains supportive of programs such as the Green Initiative. With the protection of the environment as one of the major thrusts of tourism, our role in DOT is to generate positive awareness and create demand for these ecotourism destinations. Through convergence programs with partner agencies and private sector, we are working very hard so that infrastructure is built to ensure seamless travel and that sustainable practices are implemented in these areas,” Secretary of Tourism Ramon Jimenez Jr. said.

Enjoy the wonderful world with itsmorefuninthephilippines.com. 

PAMORA FARM, The Home of Free-range Chicken!

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Pamora Farm, Inc. is a Filipino-European joint venture that operates a free-range chicken farm in Barangay Garreta, Pidigan, Abra. 

Free-range farming is a method of raising animals where they are left to roam freely in an allocated area with minimum required space. Free-range chickens are raised for a longer period than commercial chickens. They are allowed to develop natural habits and grow the way a normal chicken should -- scratching the ground and roaming the barnyard. They are grown for their flavorful taste.

Free-range chickens are grown naturally. Free-range chickens have low fat content, only 8-10% compared to regular commercial chicken that has 19-29% fat content.

Last April 27, 2013, we had a lunch meeting with the friendly owners of Pamora farm Mr. Gerard Papillon and Tina Morados, in Brasserie Cicou Restaurant at Greenhills. The sumptuous menu prepared by Chef Cyrille Soenen and Chef Summer,  while Gerald and Tina talks and presented to us through with every meal we had.

First we had Green Salad, Pickles and Mustard, Baggette and assorted Pamora Pates. There are six (6) varieties of Pamora pâtés. These Home-made Pâtés are good for appetizers. 

Green Salad, Pickles and Mustard

Assorted Pamora Pâtés

The Roasted Coquelet with Rosemary and Garlic served with Mashed Potato is really flavorful. I tasted it, different chicken roasted from other restaurant, but seasoned simply and roasted to perfection.

Roasted Coquelet

For the dessert, we were served with Trio of Crème Brulee (Vanilla, Chocolate and Green Tea). As the delicious mouth-watering Trio of Crème Brulee main ingredient is the Pamora egg which came from the Pamora free-range chicken.

Trio of Crème Brulee (Vanilla, Chocolate and Green Tea)

Mr. Gerard Papillon and Tina Morados with Chef Summer

As shared by Tina, Free-range chickens are grown longer, thus the meat is firmer, cooking time takes longer for free-range chickens, although you will not need any flavoring additives like broth cubes or chicken stocks. Salt and pepper will be enough, and sometimes even those are not needed.

"You can cook it in any way as you would your regular chicken. But with deep-frying all the natural flavors and health benefits will be lost. Cooking time is always longer than regular commercial chicken."

Gerard and Tina Morados Papillon's hardwork and enduring partnership led them to be awarded by the French Ambassador with the “Order of Merit for Agriculture, Grade of Knight” for promoting the natural and humane way of raising and manufacturing chicken byproducts.

We enjoyed having this sumptous lunch and great conversation with passionate advocate people who gave us combination of French and Filipino hospitality and their combined stories of Pamora Farm. Thanks to Ms. Nana Nadal inviting us to know more about free-range chicken by the Pamora farm brand. I hope to experience Pamora farm at Barangay Garreta, Pidigan, Abra sometime.

Read this for more  information, and enjoy this wonderful world of Pamora Farm. 

THE FREE-RANGE METHOD 

Free-range is a method of farming husbandry where the animals, like the chickens, are permitted to roam freely. The principle of free-range method is to allow the animals to live at their instinctual behaviour in a reasonably natural way instead of being contained in a cage like commercial broiler production where the chickens are forced to grow abnormally fast in just about 4 to 5 weeks (28-35 days).

Free-range chickens roam in a barnyard or field (range) to forage with a minimum of eight (8) hours daylight. Aside from the daily intake of milled yellow corn, they eat whatever organic food they could find on the ground like grass, insects, and the like.

Pamora free-range chickens come from a coloured breed from France. This breed is a slow growing type of broiler. Quality F1’s or first generation offspring are being raised in Pamora Farm.

Two weeks before the scheduled arrival of a new batch of day-old chicks, housing are being prepared for brooding (heating) purposes. Cleaning, disinfection, repairs, and equipment/materials check-up are requisite routine to ensure the bio-security of the flock and of the farm.

Chicks are kept for the first 21 days inside the housing with brooding facilities. This helps them gain strength and get ready for outside life, free-range. The farm grows different trees, grass, and herbal plants for shade and natural feeds for the chickens.

There are several ranging areas operating in the farm. Each range has between 500 to 2,000 chickens. Depending on the topography, each range occupies some 1,000 to 3,000 square meters, which provides approximately 1 to 2 square meters ranging area per bird to freely graze and find organic food available on the ground.

The use of herbal medicines, like oregano, chilli, garlic, ginger, kakawate leaves, caimito leaves, ipil-ipil leaves, guava leaves and many more, is also practiced and given at proper and appropriate times. Veterinary and technical consultants who are experts in free-range poultry practice regularly visit and assist in the farming methods, which applies and implements both local and French technologies.

Pamora Free-range chickens are grown at a minimum of 70 days. Having the chickens ranging for longer period gives the optimum natural chicken taste, firmer meat quality, and much healthier poultry meat with less fat content.

THE FARM

Pamora Farm started raising free-range chicken in March 2000 as a small-scale farm undertaking by the Papillon (Gerard) and Morados (Tina) family, their last names forming the brand, PAMORA.

Pamora Farm is also promoting their farming method the among people of Abra, providing livelihood opportunities for the community.

Aside from the free-range chicken farming for meat and eggs production, the farm also grows organic fruits and vegetables for own consumption and for visitors/guests’ staying in the farm. Using natural fertilizer from earthworm dung (vermin-culture) and composts from degradable farm wastes such as chicken manure, Pamora Farm produces fruitful and high quality crops.

Within the farm premises, reforestation projects, and planting of high quality wood trees like Narra and Mahogany.

THE PRODUCTS

Pamora Farm products are all inspected, passed, registered and certified by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD).

All dressed chicken and chicken meat by-products are processed in the Poultry Dressing Plant owned and operated solely by Pamora Farm, Inc. Accredited by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) and certified Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

Pamora Farm also manufactures traditional French “home-made” pâtés from the free-range chicken. Pâté is a mixture of various parts of the chicken (liver, gizzard, meat) blended (with herbs, black pepper and sea salt) into a paste and sterilized in glass jars. Pâté is a traditional practice in France of preserving meat of any kind.

The following six (6) varieties of Pamora pâtés are creations of Mr. Gérard Papillon using old-fashioned recipes from his grandmother.

·      Chicken Liver Pâté

·      Chicken Breast & Liver Pâté

·      Chicken Gizzard Pâté

·      Chicken Liver & Gizzard Pâté

·      Chicken Breast Pâté

·      Chicken Breast & Gizzard Pâté

Pamora Farm also produces limited quantities of free-range chicken eggs, which are well appreciated for its quality that is comparable to native chicken in taste, color, and texture. They also offer chicken burger patties.

Pamora chickens, eggs & pâté products are available at the following :

Santis delicatessen
Terry Selections
Rustan’s Supermarket
Shopwise
Metro Market! Market!
RFI Farm Outlet (Holy Spirit, QC)
Joji Berry (Crossroad 77 Mother Ignacia, QC)
NCCC – Davao
Champetre restaurant (BGC)
Brasserie Ciçou (Greenhills)
Resorts World Manila
Ilustrado Restaurant (Intramuros)
El Nido Resorts
Amanpulo
Saturday Market, Ayala Alabang Village
Golden Acres Farm, Inc. (distributor)

For more information, visit www.pamorafarm.com

or call (02) 759-2678 / (02) 506-1082 / (0917) 537-5639 / (0917) 591-7391.

View more photos @Enjoying Wonderful World Facebook Page.

TOFARM 2013 launched and seeks more outstanding farmers to recognize nationwide

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The Search and Award for “The Outstanding Farmers of the Philippines” is a program of the Junior Chamber International Philippines (JCIP) and the Universal Harvester, Incorporated. JCI Philippines is the same highly respected organization that brought “The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM)” and “The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL).”

As its goal is  to foster steady increase of youth venturing in the agriculture sector, invigorating investment and scientific advancement to achieve sustainable food supply, TOFARM 2013  seeks more outstanding farmers to recognize nationwide.

The Philippine Jaycees (JCI Philippines) and Universal Harvester, Inc. (UHI) launched its second consecutive search for outstanding Filipino farmers today, March 14 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati in the prestigious recognition program for the most noteworthy achievers in various categories of the farming sector.

Revived last year to acknowledge the increasingly important role that the farming sector has played in boosting the economy and to inspire more young people to turn to agriculture as a livelihood, TOFARM 2013 wants to identify more unsung heroes in the fields, seas and urban areas from North Luzon to Southern Mindanao.

The nationwide awards program will cite best practices of public and private entities engaged in traditional or modern farming and includes fisherfolk, animal raisers, cooperatives, farm communities, organizations, scientists, the academe, LGUs and public employees, as well as business entities in rural and urban areas.

This year’s TOFARM has added a new category – the Woman Farmer – in the annual search. “This is to recognize the growing number of women who have carved names for themselves in various agricultural fronts and who have brought recognition to the country through their individual or collective endeavors,” said Rommel Cunanan, TOFARM Project Chairman.

Another important goal of the program is to foster the steady increase of youth venturing into the agriculture sector. “This is a really rewarding and lucrative field, and if our youth are really the hope of the fatherland as Dr. Jose Rizal said, they should go into farming to ensure the steady flow of generations who will ensure us of adequate and sustainable food supply,” Cunanan added. 

JCI has partnered with Universal Harvester long term to make sure that farmers continue to be motivated towards excellence and that they receive the recgnition that they deserve. “Universal Harvester through its Executive Vice President Milagros Ong How has been tireless in its efforts to support farmers and educate them on ways to have better yields and results. We are both concerned about the improvement of conditions for the farmer and better urban-rural relations through a keener understanding of agricultural concerns,” said Ryan C. Ravanzo, JCI President.

For her part, UHI’s Mrs. Milagros Ong How said “TOFARM 2012 only scratched the surface in identifying farmers with best practices and extraordinary achievements. In TOFARM 2013 we want to explore new territories and discover other achievers who have not yet been recognized for their contributions to our country. This year, we want to widen the search to include outstanding women farmers. This is probably why we are launching TOFARM 2013 on International Woman’s Month.”

A progressive Filipino company, UHI was established in 2003, is involved in the direct manufacturing, local distribution and exportation of a number of world-class quality fertilizers.

TOFARM will give out 12 awards this year, seven in the individual category and five in the group category. 

These are : Farmer, Fisherfolk, Livestock, Agri-Entrepreneur, Young Farmer, Agricultural Innovator, Urban/City Farmer and Woman Farmer in the individual category; and Agriculture Cooperative, Family Farmer, Local Government Unit, Agriculture Initiatives and People’s Choice in the group category.

The nomination period for Outstanding Farmer candidates begins in March and will end on September 2013. Validation and Judging of nominees will take place in, while the Awarding takes place in December.

Nominations may be submitted as hard copy or sent online to www.tofarm.org Nomination forms may be downloaded from the website.

Visit also their https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tofarm/398415996887341?fref=ts