The provincial government of Benguet, in partnership with SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP), will soon to establish an agri-innovation farm center and museum.
Both parties signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) during the opening of the agri-tourism event during the Adivay Festival last Nov. 18, 2019.
Respectively, the MOA provides the facilities for endemic plants to be showcased and for an agri-innovation farm to exhibit fruit production.
“We envision the farm to be a pick-and-go agri-tourism farm where tourists will experience picking the fruits they will buy,” Provincial agriculturist Dr. Lolita Bentres said.
The said demo farm will be established in a 9.3-hectare lowland area in the municipality of Sablan town, specifically, at Sitio Bulala, in Brgy. Bayabas,
“The three-year development project under SNAP’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund will be a PHP4 million per year project for the infrastructure that will include solar power lighting, rainwater harvesting system, greenhouse, and drip irrigation,” Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported.
Further , the agriculture office in Benguet proposed a project to SNAP in 2018 to develop the said area to establish an agri-innovation farm and museum.
“SN Aboitiz operates two power plants in Benguet- the Ambuklao hydroelectric plant in Bokod town and the Binga hydroelectric plant in Itogon town, making the province a beneficiary of several projects under the company’s CSR,” PNA report mentioned.