Malaysia, China seed companies eye Philippines investments

MANILA, Philippines — Several seed companies of different crops particularly from Malaysia and China have expressed interest in investing in the Philippines, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

In a statement yesterday, the DA said this expression of interest was made at the recently-concluded Asian Seed Congress 2023 held in Christ church, New Zealand.

“Those that indicated interest to invest in the Philippines were from Malaysia and  China to share their new technologies,” the DA said.

It said their investment is part of their market diversification strategy.

“The idea is to make high quality seeds of different crops (vegetables, cutflower, ornamentals, herbs and spices, rice and corn) in Asia Pacific region to help solve the food security problems of the world,  harping on the slogan seed is life, according to,” Frisco Malabanan, a member of the executive committee of the Asian Seed Congress, who is also with the National Rice Program of the DA.

The annual Congress gathers together members in 45 countries of the world and this year saw the attendance and participation of over 1,000 delegates coming from private and government seed companies and organizations.

The highlight of the Congress was the technical session about different seed technologies available in the Asia Pacific region from production to harvesting, processing, storage, seed treatment and packaging and marketing across the region.

Seed companies that participated in the Congress were those from SL Agritech, East West Seed Company, Caneco Seeds, Allied Botanical, Haverson, Ramgo Seeds, Bayer, Syngenta, Seedworks and BioSeeds.

During the Congress, Malabanan reported on the learnings of the study tour held in the country last Sept. 17 to 24 in Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Laguna, Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur and Davao del Norte.

In addition to the technological sessions, the Congress also had exhibits showcasing the most up to date technologies, products, equipment, storage, packaging and marketing strategies to improve the quality of seeds being bought by farmers in the region.

“An example of this is the seed pelleting technology wherein the fertilizer and pesticide is incorporated into the seed until their maturity,” the DA said.

The Congress also served as the venue for different private and government seed companies to do trading of seeds like the Philippines being able to buy directly from Asia Pacific seeds companies subtropical varieties of carrots, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower from suppliers in Thailand, Korea, Japan, China, America, New Zealand and Holland.