Our ood friend Arsenio ‘Toto’ Barcelona of Harbest Agribusiness is in the process of forming a club that will promote closer ties between farmers in the Philippines and Taiwan. The idea came about after three ranking officials of Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) visited the country to observe developments in fruits and vegetable farming in the Philippines.

Toto points out that although some of the modern techniques of farming from Taiwan such as the use of hybrid seeds and plastic mulch have been adopted here, there are a lot more that could be learned from the technologies developed in Taiwan, including the use of small machines for land preparation, irrigation, processing of agricultural products for food and other uses, marketing and others.

He believes that prospective farming investors from Taiwan will discover that there are opportunities for various projects in the Philippines. They will find out, for instance, that there are already a number of Taiwanese doing good business in agriculture in the Philippines. One of them is Peter Lin who has been in the Philippines for a long time producing melons and honeydew on more than a hundred hectares in Magalang , Pampanga and Concepcion, Tarlac.

Another big time producer of seedless watermelon for export to Taiwan and for the local market is Wu Yu Lien who cultivates year round more than a hundred hectares. He used to rent 250 hectares at Hacienda Luisita but had to transfer to Pampanga.

One project that the club could do is to organize symposiums for LGU executives on policy formulation that will attract Taiwanese investors in agricultural projects, considering their geographic and climatic advantages. Toto said, for instance, that Nueva Vizcaya could be a potential area for growing Taiwan’s semi-temperate fruits. Because of its proximity toTaiwan, the northern provinces can be a vegetable production base for big Taiwanese packers and exporters. The north could serve as production area for organic and hydroponics vegetables as well as crops produced in greenhouses.

Toto sees many other possibilities that could result with the organization of an RP-Taiwan farmers’ club. Farm tours in both countries, student and professor exchanges, apprenticeship for Filipino farmers in Taiwan are just a few.