By Cielito Reganit
MANILA, (PNA) — Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala led the formal opening Thursday of the 20th AgriLink international trade fair at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
With this year’s theme “Common Service Facilities: Key to the Value Chain”, the three-day event pays tribute to agricultural service facilities that provide economies of scale direly needed by predominantly small farms and agribusiness in need of mechanization and value-adding.
AgriLink, the premier agro-business trade show in the Philippines, aims to provide easy access to the largest array of the latest and best equipment, technologies, linkages, products, global packaging, strategic agribusiness marketing and other key related services.
The entire chain of agriculture-related business encompasses a wide variety of production inputs and systems, post harvest, value adding food processing and retailing.
Along this long chain are the common service facilities such as communal irrigators, tractors pools, post harvest facilities for rice, corn and vegetables, feed mills, abattoirs, dressing plants, cutting floors, and cold storage among others.
Alcala said these service facilities speeds up the entire food production, reduces postharvest losses and stabilizes the marketing process which enables the entire farm-to-fork chain to run more efficiently.
He exhorted local farmers and fisherfolk to be more aggressive and be more forward looking in order to become globally competitive.
“We have to take advantage of the opportunities provided by AgriLink to acquire modern processes, programs and equipment to ensure the quality of our local products and provide a better future for our farmers and fisherfolk,” Alcala said.
AgriLink, which is supported by the DA and major Philippine agriculture and food trade associations, features local and international products and technologies aside from other activities like seminars, live animal and plant displays to promote and enhance the potential of different markets that can improve the value chain and productivity of agricultural products to achieve food sufficiency.
“The DA continues to give full support to programs that contribute to the development of our agriculture and benefit our people,” Alcala said.
The trade show will run until October 12 and is also being held concurrently with FoodLink – an international food processing, packaging and products exhibition – and AquaLink, a national fisheries exhibition.