Weather Philippines Foundation, Inc., a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative of listed conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., donated solar panels to the Department of Agriculture (DA) which will be used for the agency’s aquaponics and hydroponics push.
In a statement, the DA said it intends to optimize the use of renewable energy (RE) to grow food using aquaponics and hydroponics technologies.
This was after receiving for free as many as 19 units of 30-watt solar panels from Weather Philippines.
The solar panels will be used to power water systems for vegetable production.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the panels will be installed at the Bureau of Plant Industry’s (BPI) urban gardens in Malate, Manila.
“We are promoting in a big way renewable energy in agriculture as this is the key to level up food production in the future,” Dar said.
According to him, the initiative would surely intensify the government’s move towards sustainable, strong, and climate-resilient food production.
In his message during the turnover of the panels, he invited other corporations to partner with DA.
“This will not only address food security and create income opportunities for our local farmers and fishers in the rural areas, but it will also fast-track the agri-industrialization movement for the country,” Dar said.
For his part, BPI Director George Culaste welcomed the DA’s collaboration with Weather Philippines and Aboitiz Equity Ventures.
“We look forward to creating more partnerships with your group so that we can show the nation that if we work together, we can heal as one,” Culaste said.
The DA has been mainstreaming initiatives for urban agriculture as part of its Plant, Plant, Plant Program to address the food need of residents living in the metropolis and augment available food supply.
In May, DA assigned actor and record producer James Reid to be its ambassador for food security.
Reid is into hydroponics, a method of gardening and growing plants without soil and only with the help of mineral nutrient solutions.