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MANILA, Philippines – A planned joint venture between the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan and agriculture firm SL Agritech will spend an initial US$10 million to grow rice on at least a thousand hectares of land if it pushes through.
In a press conference on Friday, August 24, SL Agritech President Henry Lim said the commercial rice farming will be carried out on idle pieces of land deemed fit for cultivation.
Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) is in talks with SL Agritech, a hybrid rice seeds producer, for a joint venture.
Lim said the Philippine Agriculture Development Corp of the Department of Agriculture and MPIC have identified areas for possible farming in Palawan, Occidental Mindoro, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Zamboanga Sibugay, Davao del Sur, Campostella Valley, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.
He said they have yet to confirm if the areas are suitable for growing rice before they could go ahead with the joint venture. They tapped Laguna-based consulting firm Mandala Development Corp to conduct a feasibility study on this.
“We have to closely coordinate with concerned regions and provinces to confirm if those areas are existing and available,” he added.
Under the planned joint venture, SL Agritech will provide hybrid rice seeds that will be used in the large-scale farming, as well as technical assistance.
“I think this is a very good agreement. With the financial muscle of Metro Pacific and the technology of SL Agritech, we have a good tie up,” said Lim.
The initial planned expenditure of $10 million will go to the development of farm infrastructure, particularly irrigation facilities for rain-fed lowland areas.
Lim is confident about the joint venture due to the “big” local demand for rice. “I think MVP (Pangilinan) also realized that there is a big market for rice.”
He noted that rice consumption in the Philippines now stands at P450 billion annually.
“If you can get a 10% share of P450 billion, that is big,” said Lim. – Rappler.com
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