President Duterte inaugurated on Friday the P1.7-billion privately owned rice processing complex of Chen Yi-Agventures that could help Filipino farmers increase their income and ensure the country’s food supply.
The President said he feels sentimental seeing the complex operating in a poverty-stricken rice-producing area of the province. The facility, owned by Italian Patrick Renucci and his wife Rachel Tan, was built in Mudburon, Alangalang, Leyte, some 24 kilometers away from Tacloban City.
“This project is a testament to our commitment to find more ways to actively respond to the various problems and challenges confronting the agricultural industry. Complex that we are taking initiatives to sustain our rice supply and ensure food security for our nation,” the President said in his 38-minute speech.
“”I am hopeful that CYA will be able to help us to continuously propel the agricultural sector forward by providing our farmers with the equipment and technical assistance that they need to produce high quality rice,” he added.
The two-hectare complex is the most technologically advanced rice processing center in Southeast Asia and the largest in Visayas and Mindanao.
It uses temperature-controlled silos with a total capacity of 6,000 metric tons for its Phase 1, keeping dried palay in a freshly harvested condition for over one year and enabling the facility to produce world-class rice.
Duterte also expressed optimism that the facility will be able to improve the well-being of Filipino farmers by helping them realize their vital role as drivers of the country’s agricultural development.
“I hope that CYA and the local government of Leyte will continue to take further strides in spurring countryside development as well as the others in advancing the rice industry towards more progressive and modern practices,” he said. (Argyll Geducos)