UP Los Baños, through the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) turns over 5,000 seed packets to the Department of Agriculture (DA) on March 23, 2023.

DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban and High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) Director Glenn Panganiban received the seeds that will be distributed to MIMAROPA communities affected by the recent oil spill.

This is part of DA and IPB’s collaboration on the project “Scaling-Out the Utilization of IPB-Developed Seeds for Selected Lowland Vegetables towards Sustainable Seed System”, which aims to provide alternative source of food and income to calamity-stricken residents.

The project started in September 2022 and has distributed over 100,000 seed packets to the regions through DA. The project has also produced information, education, and communication (IEC) materials and provided trainings to strengthen technical capacities of seed growers, associations, and cooperatives. The second phase will start in April 2023.

Chancellor Jose V. Camacho, Jr. personally turned over the seed packets to the DA officials at the IPB Seminar Room.