A $1-billion food security program of Philippine beverage and food conglomerate San Miguel Corp. and Malaysia’s Kuok group will begin in the first half of the year in the southern province of Davao del Norte, where 18,494 hectares of logged-over lands have been identified for the program’s use, a government firm said.

This will be the first phase of the ambitious venture dubbed “Feeding the Future,” said Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. (PADC), which will oversee the implementation of the project together with the Department of Agriculture.

“The launching in Davao del Norte, which will cover four of its municipalities, is part of the commitment of San Miguel and Kuok to invest up to $1 billion to develop one million hectares of land for agricultural production,” said PADCC president Marriz Agbon.

San Miguel and Kuok last year signed a memorandum of understanding to help the Philippine government achieve food security through the project. It was their answer to calls of the government for private businesses to take part in making the country self-sufficient in rice, the main Filipino staple, and in other food commodities.

Under the plan, San Miguel and Kuok will jointly fund and develop lands to be planted mainly to rice, sugar, corn and coconut. The project also covers vegetables, meat and dairy products. They will buy all food products from the new farms, which will be tilled by tenant-farmers and will continue to be owned by the government.

Agbon said the first phase would cover 3,246 hectares in the town of Kapalong, 5,860 hectares in San Isidro, 7,860 hectares in Talaingod and 1,552 hectares in New Corella. He said these areas have high rainfall throughout the year, and clay loam to sandy loam soil, which make them ideal for plantation development.

“The subject areas are logged-over areas. These are classified as open or barren land … a potential site for upland agro-forestry development,” Agbon said.

He said one million hectares of land had been pledged for the project and the government had so far identified about 100,000 hectares in Priority 1 provinces in Luzon and Mindanao and 480,000 hectares in Priority 2 provinces, for recommendation to San Miguel and Kuok.

Priority 1 includes Mountain Province, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay and Saranggani. Priority 2 includes Isabela, Mindoro Oriental, Mindoro Occidental, Negros Oriental, Bukidnon, Davao Oriental, Sultan Kudarat and Surigao del Sur.

About 220,000 hectares are classified as Priority 3, in Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, South Cotabato, North Cotabato and Agusan del Norte.

“The government will use the country’s existing community-based forestry management areas and the untenured areas identified by the Department of Agrarian Reform for the project,” Agbon said
. Edited by INQUIRER.net