DA, UR ink five-year potato program

The Department of Agriculture (DA) and Universal Robina Corp. (URC)–the food manufacturing arm of the Gokongwei Group, forged a five-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to jointly establish and continue implementing the Sustainable Potato Program (SPP) on July 29, 2024. The agreement aims to establish reliable seeds systems, capacitate potato farmers organizations and boost farm productivity and farmers’ income in top potato-producing regions.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said with the SPP’s positive result and expected benefits for potato farmer-beneficiaries and the industry, URC committed to upscale the project and expand production areas in the Cordilleras, Bukidnon and Davao provinces in partnership with the DA and the United Potato Producers of Benguet and Mountain province and other farmers’ associations in various provinces.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, URC, which is one of the country’s largest branded consumer food and beverage product companies participated in the DA’s SPP. Under the initiative, it distributed around 506 metric tons of high-quality potato seeds in three regions. These were planted in 202 hectares of land.

“Since its inception in 2019, this program exemplified the power of public-private partnerships in driving positive change,” said Sec. Tiu Laurel.

The distributed seeds yielded a maximum of 45 metric tons per hectare of potatoes, with total estimated production of 23,000 metric tons that generated gross income of P920 million for 14 farmer organizations.

“This agreement solidifies our shared commitment to improve access to quality planting materials, enhance potato production practices and technology, boost local sufficiency, and ultimately uplift farmers enroute to a sustainable future,” he added.

Under the MOA, DA regional offices and URC will identify and select farmers groups that will undergo capacity building, training in good agricultural practices, seed multiplication, pest and disease management, storage, handling and marketing.

The DA Secretary committed additional funding for the production of quality planting materials targeting 2 million pieces of Generation 1 seed, to be used for seed production