(Photo by Roel T Amazona)
ALANGALANG, Leyte- More than 4,000 farmers from this province are expected to increase their yields which would mean additional income for them.
A memorandum of agreement was signed by the Land Bank of the Philippines providing a loan to the ChenYi Agventures, a private company, that will help mechanized the farming method in Leyte.
The ChenYi Agventures will provide technical and skills assistance to the farmers like providing equipment and at the same time, procure their palay at the current prevailing rate, company president Rachel Renucci-Tan said during the signing of the agreement held this town last Wednesday(August 16).
The company’s facility is located in Barangay Mudburon, this town.
The company initially targets about 4,000 farmers coming from the towns of Jaro, Sta. Fe, Carigara, Pastrana and this town, all rice-producing areas in Leyte.
Renucci-Tan said that the number of farmers who will benefit their ‘revolutionary’ program will increase as the program is just on its first phase.
The company hope to develop the most technologically advanced post-harvest facilities, and will also be the largest producer that integrates seed growing, planting, farm management, harvesting and rice production not only in Leyte but the whole Visayas and Mindanao.
For his part, Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said that he was glad that ChenYi chose Leyte as its site in helping modernize the agriculture sector.
The governor said that with farmers now to use full mechanized equipment on their farming, their yields could increase.
Under the auspices of ChenYi, farmers could expect about 7,000 tons of palay per harvest which is more than double from their current yields.
In turn, the company will buy their produce using the current rate which is between P13 to P18 per kilogram.
“They will have more income considering that our farmers will have now more produce,” Renucci-Tan said.
Renucci-Tan, who runs the ChenYi together with her husband, Patrick Renucci, a French national, said that aside from helping the farmers achieve higher yields, they also like to see them increase their income.
The company is the first to offer an end-to-end mechanized rice farming process in the Visayas region.
“When we say end- to- end mechanized farming, it means from land preparation to planting, cultivation, to harvesting, drying, silo storage, milling, bagging, and distribution,” Renucci-Tan said.
Inputs-in-kind it was learned will be provided to farmers, in the form of high- yielding seed varieties, fertilizers, and pesticides.
Among present during the loan signing were LBP president and CEO Alex Buenaventura, Edward John Reyes, LBP executive vice president for agriculture and development lending and Mayor Reynaldo Capon Sr. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/JOEY A. GABIETA)
