AgriNurture allots up to P200 million for farm expansion

MANILA, Philippines - AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) is allocating between P100 million and P200 million over a three-year period for its farm expansion program.

In a talk with reporters at the launch of ANI’s Tully’s Coffee franchise at the ground floor of the Mckinley’s Residences at the Fort, ANI president Antonio Tiu said that his company is starting rice production in an initial 2,000 hectares somewhere in Central Luzon.

ANI, Tiu said, plans to expand rice and corn production from Northern and Central Luzon to Mindanao, ramping up the hectarage over a three-year period to 10,000 hectares.

The ANI rice plantation, Tiu said, would be using the recently approved Mestiza No. 35 produced by the Chinese Beidahuang Seed company.

Ani has partnered with China’s Heilongjiang Beidahuang Seed Group Co. Ltd. to form Beidahuang Philippines. Beidahuang Phils will concentrate on the production of high-yielding hybrid rice seedlings.

Tiu pointed out that ANI’s rice production would help in the Aquino administration’s rice self-sufficiency program.

The Aquino government is aiming for rice self-sufficiency by 2013.

However, the Department of Agriculture has chosen not to rely on higher yielding hybrid seeds and has instead allowed farmers to use regular in-bred certified seeds.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala remains optimistic that the rice production target this year of 17.3 million metric tons is still attainable even though the passage of several typhoons in the last half of the year has caused substantial damage to standing crops intended for harvest in the fourth quarter this year.

Third quarter rice production is still expected to be on target, but fourth quarter production is expected to be lower, but hopefully not enough to wipe out the surplus incurred in the first half of the year.