By Perla Lena/PNA
ILOILO CITY — The city government may consider adopting the farming technology available in Hainan, China following a two-week intensive training on agribusiness as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative from November 26 to December 7, 2018.
Ritchel Gavan, one of the two delegates sent by the city government upon the invitation of the Hainan Foreign Affairs of China, said one of the best farming technologies that can be replicated is the mushroom industry.
Gavan, head of the Local Economic Investment and Promotion Office (LEPIO), was joined by City Agriculturist Romulo Pangantihon during the duration of the Tropical Agriculture Advanced Study and Research Program.
“What we saw that can be replicated in this city, in an urban setting, is the mushroom industry,” she said on Tuesday.
They joined other delegates in touring among others the 20-square meter facility that produces tons of mushrooms every six hours.
Pangantihon said that “it’s the most practical technology that can be adopted.”
He added that an area was converted from being a rubber tree plantation into a sort of greenhouse to mushroom culture. Saw dusts were mixed with organic component and spawn of mushrooms. He added that growing the mushrooms is not tedious.
“The area of about 3×20 meters produces 15 kilos of mushrooms every six hours,” he said.
Pangantihon said that he will be coordinating with the mushroom production specialist of the Department of Agriculture (DA) here to acquire the technology.
“I am looking at incorporating it at the household level,” he said.
“There is a ready market. Chinese restaurants (in Iloilo) want fresh mushrooms from here. What they are using right now are canned mushrooms. This is a good opportunity for us,” Gavan said.
Since they have just arrived from China, Pangantihon said that they would be making the necessary recommendation to the city mayor.
Gavan said that there are high-value commodities that can be found both in Hainan and Iloilo.
“Hainan is at the southern part of China, which is a tropical province. Upon arrival, we saw that there were a lot of commonalities between Iloilo and Hainan,” she said.
The intensive training was attended by 20 delegates from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Micronesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
