P800M feed mill, milestone for Bohol agri-biz

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — The agri-business sector in Bohol marked another milestone with the inauguration of the P800-million modern feed mill of Marcela Farms, Inc. under the Alturas Group of Companies (AGC) in Ubay town over the weekend.

Marcela Feed Mill 2 that produces livestock feeds would complement the 11-year-old Marcela Feed Mill 1 that has been processing feeds for aquaculture.

Representative Erico Aumentado (2nd district)-one of the officials who graced the inauguration ceremony-lauded AGC, headed by Marlito Uy, for placing Bohol at the forefront of agri-business by establishing one of the biggest feed mills in the country using modern European technology.

The nine-storey feeds plant can process 20,000 tons of hog and poultry feeds per hour. "This is the most modern feed mill in the Visayas-Mindanao regions using ultra-modern technology comparable to the BMW in the car industry. Its four silos need four boatloads of corn to feed the mill. The raw materials are usually purchased outside of Bohol due to our low corn production here," Aumentado said.

As such, the congressman appealed to the corn stakeholders in Bohol to support the Plant Hybrid Corn and Fertilize Now Pay Later Program, a public-private partnership between Land Bank of the Philippines , the Department of Agriculture, Marcela Farms, Asian Hybrid Seeds and his office.

"This partnership guarantees the farmers, through Marcela Farms, a high floor price for their produce and, therefore, protects the farmers from unscrupulous price manipulators. The seed company will provide high-yielding, non-GMO and hybrid corn seeds, while my office will provide tractors and other post-harvest facilities," Aumentado said.

Aumentado's office is providing tractors through a convergence strategy with the LBUs of Clarin, Inabanga, Buenavista, Talibon, Ubay, Dagohoy, Danao, Getafe and Sagbayan, and Trinidad Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

"It is my intention that Bohol, particularly the 2nd district, be an active provider of raw materials for the new feed mill," he added. - THE FREEMAN