Palawan catches eyes of Chinese investors

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1023769
• Friday, February 2, 2018

By Celeste Anna Formoso (PNA)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- A Chinese hybrid rice investor wants to venture into the techno-demonstration trial of 20 varieties of mixed breed rice seeds in Palawan.

Provincial Information Officer Gil Acosta Jr. on Thursday told the media that the visit hopes to help rice farmers in Palawan increase rice productivity and also boost the province rice sufficiency.

“We welcome their interest to venture into hybrid rice in the province, which could really help our farmers,” he said.

He named the investors as Dr. Changxiang Mao and Director Xiao Langmu of AirFarmer Co., Ltd, which promotes and develops hybrid rice varieties based in Sichuan, China.

They visited Palawan on January 30-31 and were welcomed by officials of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturists (OPA) at the office of Governor Jose Alvarez.

The techno-demonstration trial helps determine what hybrid rice seeds are appropriate to Palawan’s climate and soil condition.

No specific date had been identified when it would be done but Acosta said it was related to Palawan’s rice sufficiency target, and to also uplift available livelihood opportunities for farmers.

If it happened, it would most likely be done with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and Bureau of Plant and Industry (BPI), he said.