Benguet signs P12-M MOA with Aboitiz for agriculture innovation farm, museum

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet-- The provincial government here will soon have its agri-innovation center and living museum after it signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) for construction of the facilities.

Signed during the opening of the agri-tourism event during the Adivay Festival last Nov. 18, the MOA will provide the facility that will showcase endemic plants and will also serve as a demonstration farm of the province's fruit production, which started only a few years ago.

The three-year development project under SNAP's corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund will be a PHP4 million per year project for the infrastructure that will include solar power lighting, rainwater harvesting system, greenhouse, and drip irrigation.

The provincial government bought a 9.3-hectare lot at Sitio Bulala, in Brgy. Bayabas, Sablan town, a lowland area of the municipality, which is intended to be a provincial agriculture demo farm for fruits.

 In an earlier interview, provincial agriculturist Dr. Lolita Bentres said they envision the farm to be a pick-and-go agri-tourism farm where tourists will experience picking the fruits they will buy.

In 2018, the provincial agriculture office submitted a proposal to SNAP to further develop the area and come up with an agricultural center and museum.

According to the project briefer, the project is a part of the annual investment plan of the province aimed to intensify farmers’ adoption of sustainable agriculture and integrated farming toward increased productivity and household income as well as food security and sufficiency.

SN Aboitiz operates two power plants in Benguet- the Ambuklao hydroelectric plant in Bokod town and the Binga hydroelectric plant in Itogon town, making the province a beneficiary of several projects under the company’s CSR. (PNA)