BOI OKs P9.59 billion agriculture investments

MANILA, Philippines — The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved P9.59 billion worth of investments for projects in the agricultural sector that are expected to help achieve food security.

In a statement, the DTI said the investments approved in the first semester were endorsed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) as Tier II agri-based projects under the 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan pursuant to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.

“The synergy between the BOI and the DA is already yielding significant benefits as these projects will certainly drive the adoption of new technologies and enhance food security in the Philippines – ensuring the sustainability and resilience of our agricultural systems,” Trade Secretary and BOI chairman Alfredo Pascual said.

Among the projects approved by the BOI is Metro Pacific Dairy Farms Inc.’s integrated dairy farm and processing facility in Laguna.

The facility, which will use artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art equipment, has a capacity to produce more than nine million liters of dairy and plant-based beverage products annually.

Also approved was Metro Pacific Fresh Farms Inc.’s project in Bulacan being undertaken in collaboration with Innovative Agro-Industry, an affiliate of Israel’s LR Group.

The project, which will use technologies developed to cultivate high-quality vegetables even in challenging desert climates, will produce 1,620 metric tons of vegetables annually.

The BOI said it also approved SL Agritech Corp.’s hybrid rice seeds and palay production project in Tabuk City, Kalinga.

With an annual capacity of 17,500,005 kilograms of hybrid rice seeds and 3,500,000 kilograms of palay, the project’s use of hybrid rice technology is expected to help increase farmers’ output.

The approved investments in the agricultural sector also include Vifel Ice Plant and Cold Storage Inc.’s cold and dry storage facility in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, with a capacity of 5,824 pallets (2,125,760 pallet-days) for cold storage and 2,606 pallets (951,190 pallet-days) for dry storage.