A group of farmers, sponsored by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Dubai, exported 10,000 kilogram of organic rice to the UAE.
Milagros Casis, director of Department of Agriculture for Region 12, said aside from the shipment to the UAE, the farmers under Don Bosco Multipurpose Cooperative in Soccskargen also exported 3,500 kilograms to the US.
Romano Laurilla, Don Bosco MPC general manager, said they started export to the UAE in 2012. “The additional 10 MT organic rice shipment is the product of the Dubai overseas Filipino workers (OFW) Reintegration Program.”
Under the program, overseas Filipino workers adopt organic rice farmers and provide financing to these organic rice cultivators in M’lang town, he said.
Don Bosco MPC’s organic black, red and brown rice are grown in more than 500 hectares in the towns of M’lang, Tulunan, Midsayap, President Roxas and Kidapawan City in North Cotabato and Surallah in South Cotabato.
Casis said DA provided a P3 million (Dh217,223) grant to the cooperative in 2012 to procure double chamber vacuum packing machine, seed trading center, rice transplanter, seed cleaner and rice color sorter.
The coop also received PHP1.9 million (Dh137,574) worth of rice combine harvester in 2016, she added.
“We are also bringing Don Bosco MPC to local and international trade fairs and expo,” Casis noted.
Meanwhile, Ofelia Domingo, former regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment in Region 12, said they conceptualized the program that seeks t bearing in mind the welfare of OFWs.
“Through this program, we offer our OFWs a potential opportunity that they can invest on in the Philippines while they are earning abroad,” Domingo said.
(Report via PNA)
Photo Credits: Pixabay
