The Department of Agriculture (DA) inaugurated an automated greenhouse facility in Kalibo, Aklan, on November 7 to enhance the productivity and yield of high-value crops.
The facility—part of the Value Chain Enhancement of High-Value Crops through Smart Agriculture (VEHCSA) project—is situated at the Aklan Agri-Aqua Demonstration Farm and Training Center. It was established with support from the South Korean government via the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. highlighted the importance of international technological collaboration for local agriculture.
“Technology partnerships such as this with KOICA can help our farmers produce more with greater efficiency, improve the quality and consistency of their harvests, and ultimately earn more from their hard work,” DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said.
Equipped with a climate-controlled system, the greenhouse is designed to enable year-round crop production regardless of changing weather patterns. Similar smart agricultural facilities have also been built in Tigbauan, Iloilo; Patnongon, Antique; and Bago City, Negros Occidental.
To ensure long-term operational sustainability, the DA and KOICA are working to link these facilities with agribusiness enterprises and private-sector markets rather than keeping them solely as demonstration centers.
“The DA and KOICA are therefore looking to connect the facilities with viable agribusiness enterprises and institutional and private-sector markets, rather than leave them as demonstration sites with impressive equipment but limited commercial reach,” the DA stated.