In March of this year (2019) representatives of the Council of Agriculture (COA) and the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture, working within the framework of the Taiwan-Philippines Agricultural Cooperation Meeting, signed an implementing agreement and held groundbreaking ceremonies for a mushroom demonstration farm in Baguio, the Philippines. The agreement stipulates the transfer of Taiwanese mushroom-growing technology, equipment, and cultures to assist in development of the Philippines’ mushroom industry. A further purpose is to raise the income of local farmers and to open up the market for exports of Taiwanese mushroom cultivation materials to the Philippines, thus creating a win-win situation for the two countries.

The mushroom growing house and the installation of equipment were completed at the “Taiwan-Philippines Button Mushroom Demonstration Farm” in June of this year. In August the facility launched production of organic compost, and in September Taiwan mushroom cultures were exported to the Philippines and inoculated. And today (November 19), a mushroom harvest activity was held at the facility, demonstrating the fruits of agricultural cooperation between the two countries.

The harvest activity in Baguio was hosted by the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture, and attended by a Taiwanese delegation led by COA Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng. While there, Deputy Minister Huang stated that in the future the two sides will use technological integration and full-farm duplication to spread the demo farm model all over the Philippines. In addition, a technical team will be hired from Taiwan to evaluate and build demonstration farms for other crops, including cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage, in order to diversify local agriproducts. These efforts will open the door to exports of Taiwanese agricultural materials (pesticides, organic fertilizer, small farm machinery, etc.) and put into effect the New Southbound Policy in the agricultural sector.