Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban and High Value Crops Program Director Glenn Panganiban receive from the UPLB-Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) 5,000 vegetable seed packets and other planting materials to be distributed to communities affected by the recent oil spill in the MIMAROPA region.
The initiative is part of DA and IPB’s collaboration under the “Scaling-Out the Utilization of IPB-Developed Seeds for Selected Lowland Vegetables Toward Sustainable Seed System,” project which aims to provide an alternative source of food and income to calamity-stricken residents.
More than 100,000 seed packets have been distributed to the countryside through the DA’s regional field offices since the project kicked off in September 2022.
To enhance technical capacities of seed growers, associations and cooperatives, DA and IPB has produced information, education, and communication (IC) materials and provided training support.
Chancellor Jose V. Camacho, Jr. personally turned over the seed packets to the DA officials at the IPB Seminar Room on March 23. The second phase of the project will begin in April 2023. ### (photos by Alan Jay Jacalan, DA-AFID)
