PH, Israel eye collaboration on dairy farming, other agri ventures

MANILA  -The Philippines and Israel are exploring new avenues to collaborate in the agriculture space, including the development of large-scale dairy farm using the latter’s technology, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

To date, the Philippines imports most of its dairy supply.

Agriculture officials led by Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, National Dairy Authority Administrator Gabriel Lagamayo and Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss discussed these in a meeting on July 31.

Also tackled during the meeting were market access for Philippine fresh pineapples and mangoes, importation of Hass avocado planting materials and technical cooperation on enhancing local laboratories.

“In addition, it was agreed that an integrated annual work plan for the DA and the Israel government will be prepared for better coordination on the countries’ priority projects,” the DA said.

During the meeting, the proposed Philippines and Israel Cooperative Learning and Linkages in Agriculture through Bilateral Agreement (PH-IL CoLLAB) was discussed.

PH-IL CoLLAB is aligned with the Philippines and Israel’s goal of strengthening cooperation and improving agricultural partnerships through training, internship, professional exchange, monitoring and evaluation.

This project will be implemented with the Agricultural Training Institute and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Meanwhile, Israel signified its intention to organize a learning exchange on agricultural research seminar during the visit of Agricultural Research Organization’s Uri Yermiyahu to the Philippines on Aug. 30.

At the same time, Israel extended its invitation to participate in Agritech 2023, its largest agricultural technology event. The event, slated for October, will showcase the latest agricultural, water and food technologies from leading companies in the world.