Calata bullish on ’13 prospects

MANILA, Philippines - Leading agriculture technology firm Calata Corp. recently said it remains optimistic on Philippine agriculture sector growth prospects for 2013 despite setbacks caused by natural calamities. It also reaffirmed its commitment to help the government meet both its recovery and growth targets for the year.

Calata Corp. chair and CEO Joseph Calata also cited the government’s agriculture growth strategy which is “anchored on encouraging farmers to up their use of modern and sustainable technologies, including those designed to reduce post-harvest losses”.

He said this type of agriculture technologies “shorten production periods while increasing harvests and drastically reducing the use of chemical substances that harm the soil”. This should help hasten the recovery from last year’s missed harvest targets, Calata said.

Calata also said the growing reputation of Philippine poultry products as being compliant with international safety and quality standards should spur further growth in the poultry subsector due to an expected rise in export requirements. He said the positive reputation has been partly due to strict quality controls and continuing improvements in poultry feed products and farm management systems.

Calata also hailed the election of farmer-leader Salcedo Foronda to its board of directors. He said the presence of Foronda “gives the firm a direct and accurate gauge of the needs and aspirations of the country’s farmers and food producers”.

Foronda manages the largest seed growers cooperative in Isabela, one of the country’s major grains producing provinces. He also chairs Cauayan City’s Cooperatives Development Council which include the leaders of the city’s biggest cooperatives.

His membership in the board ensures that Calata Corp. continues to provide technologies and products that are responsive and relevant to the agriculture sector, Calata added.

Calata Corp. has some 120 outlets nationwide which it plans to increase to 140 this year. It also operates its own grains and poultry farm projects in Northern Luzon. The firm is also the Philippine distributor of international agriculture technology firms Syngenta of Sweden and Monsanto of USA and partner of Argentinian firms Fimaco SA and JMG SA.