By Dhel Nazario
To meet the country’s local food needs in the emerging new normal, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has signed partnerships with various institutions to implement a smart food value chain program which will guarantee food security.
DOST-PCIEERD / MANILA BULLETIN
During a virtual meeting, DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food, Inc. (PCAFI) Chair Philip Ong and President Danilo Fausto, and with Air21 Global President Judy Ascalon.
DOST said that the collaboration will cover food production, food processing, logistics supply chain and resources management system, and smart retailing systems.
The Food Value Chain (FVC) is a series of activities that aims to build and create values from each stage, from agricultural production, processing and manufacturing, distribution up to consumption.
"This is a milestone that will surely strengthen the cooperation between DOST and its partner industries, PCAFI and Air21, to improve food production, processing, and extending the shelf-life of local food for national consumption," DOST Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development Executive (DOST-PCIEERD) Director Dr. Enrico Paringit said.
Accelerating local food production and generating market opportunities for farmers, the DOST through PCIEERD, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI), Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), and partner state universities and colleges (SUC) as well as Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have developed several technologies that will be integrated to complete the value chain.
Smart technologies such as the Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines (SARAI) program of DOST Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) and artificial intelligence to process data across the value chain will be used in the undertaking.
This program seeks to develop a sustainable food value chain in the country—from farms to firms and their successive coordinated value-adding activities that produce particular raw agricultural materials and transform them into particular food products. These are then sold to final consumers and disposed of after use, in a manner that is profitable, beneficial to society and sustainable as it does not permanently deplete natural resources.