To assist local rubber farmers and enable a more dynamic rubber industry, the Department of Agriculture (DA) entered into a partnership with the Philippine Rubber Farmers Agriculture Cooperative (PRFAC) and Leo Tires Manufacturing Corporation.
The production of Pilipinas Agila Tires, will soon be undertaken under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Agriculture Secretary Manny F. Piñol, PRFAC Chairman Armando P. Pedregosa and Leo Tires President Willy T. Lim (represented by Mr. William Pascaran).
The MOU was signed on November 29, 2018 at Arakan, Cotabato.
“The problem with our rubber industry is that for so long, we don’t have processing facilities to turn raw materials into high value products,” Piñol said.
Under the MOU, PRFAC will buy the raw rubber materials from its members and process it to Specified Rubber Grade 20 (SPR 20), which will then be transported to Leo Tires warehouse in Valenzuela City for further processing.
Leo Tires will then transform the SPR20 into vehicle tires, and assure that the designs and final products will be in premium quality and competitive standards.
In addition, Leo Tires will ensure that the Pilipinas Agila Tires will be properly documented for its application for patent at the Intellectual Property Office.
“Later on, we will produce rubber tires for farm vehicles such as the kuliglig.” Piñol said.
As part of the agreement, DA thru Agricultural Credit Policy Council (DA-ACPC) turned over P10 million (M) credit to PRFAC as initial working capital for the said project.
Piñol also committed P5M under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) credit of DA-ACPC for the rubber farmers of Arakan.
During the program, Piñol encouraged Arakan farmers to go into sorghum production. Under the national development program for sorghum, the agri chief distributed 150 packs of assorted forage seeds, 100 bags of certified seeds, 100 bags of corn seeds, 100 pieces (pcs) of Guyabano seeds, 100 pcs. of Guapple seeds, 50 pcs. of Jackfruit seeds, 3 pcs. knapsack sprayer, and 100,000 fingerlings with 100 packs of feeds.
DA-12 also turned over P8M fund under the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) to Cotabato Foundation College School of Technology (CFCST). The fund aims to teach vegetable farming to the youth.
“I want you to apply what you have learned in your school. ” Piñol said.
“We don’t have problem releasing money for farmers, but I want to see that the funds we give provide changes to your life,” he added.
He said he is crafting a P20-M credit program for graduate students of CFCST so they can procure their own farm machineries. ### (Kristel Merle, DA-AFID)
