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Metro Pacific Agro Ventures Inc. (MPAV) is planning to build 10 more greenhouses which will cater to local communities within five years.
MPAV President and CEO Jovy I. Hernandez said the greenhouses will be smaller, measuring about 1 hectare to 1.5 hectares. The greenhouses would serve a particular radius to reduce logistics cost.
“It would be in areas like Boracay and Puerto Galera. If they have a greenhouse in Puerto Galera, they won’t have to ship vegetables coming from other islands. We have already (set our sights on) our first location; we will let you know soon.
But in the meantime, as early as now, we are already saying that we might have to build 10 sites at the very least,” Hernandez said.
The greenhouses are far smaller than its hub in Bulacan, which is currently under construction.
“Construction is still underway. We’re still hell-bent on making it open, live for commercial operation, by the fourth quarter this year,” he said.
The Bulacan facility was intended to house 7 hectares of greenhouses, excluding the road network. The total size of the property is 22 hectares.
“We have the capability to double it to 40 hectares. The smaller footprints that we are envisioning in other areas of the country, about 1 to 1.5 hectares would be enough. The mega-site in Bulacan intends to cater to the Greater Manila Area, or even Bulacan all the way to Tarlac maybe.”
Hernandez also said MPAV is keen on the business model of the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal Inc. The company, however, has yet to decide on whether it will take over the food terminal or if it will build one.
“All we know is that we are focused now on the production side. But eventually, we know that the distribution side will be important.”
On its milk operation, which is mainly for Carmen’s Best ice cream, Hernandez said the company has just finished the construction of a new barn in Laguna. MPAV is expecting the arrival of 150 pregnant cows in the next two months.
“If we produced 300,000 liters per annum last year, output could go up to 700,000 liters per annum, or more than double, with the additional cows this year,” he said.
“Based on our five-year roadmap, the Metro Pacific Dairy Farm will be opened in the first quarter of 2025. That will have an additional 600 milking cows immediately. All told, our five-year forecast is that we will get close to 3,000 cows and we will be producing 10 million liters per year.”
He said the company is studying the possibility of using carabao milk.
“If we take a look at milk, the quintessential symbol of Philippine agriculture is carabao. But we’ve never used carabaos for milking,” he said.
“The mozzarella cheese that the Filipinos love in pizza is produced by the Italian buffalino, which is carabao. We have more than 2 million carabaos in the country that are not being used for milking.”
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