Citicore unveils farm project

By Leander Domingo June 3, 2021
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/06/03/business/agribusiness/citicore-unveils-farm-project/1801751

Citicore Power Inc. (Citicore), a leading agro-solar energy supply and solutions provider, unveiled the Citicore AgroSolar project that was highlighted by the first-ever turmeric harvest festival at Citicore's Tarlac 2 Solar Plant in Barangay Dalayap, Tarlac City.

Citicore President Oliver Tan said the pilot project demonstrates that agriculture and solar power generation can coexist.

"After 10 months of strict project implementation and monitoring, we consider the AgroSolar model a resounding success for the Filipino people. The output is sufficiently high, which can be profitably sold in the market and provide a source of income to our partner farmers," Tan said.

Citicore is committed to helping the country achieve a healthy energy mix from solar, hydro and biomass platforms, he added.

In 2020, Citicore piloted a turmeric plantation across 2.5 hectares of land yielding approximately 40,000 kilos of turmeric with an estimated commercial value of P1 million after almost 12 months.

According to Citicore, the yield was on top of generating a total of 71-megawatt (MW) of clean solar energy from its five solar plants located in Luzon where AgroSolar was piloted.

Last May 20, it was Agriculture Secretary William Dar, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) President Emmanuel Herbosa and Tarlac City Mayor Cristy Angeles who graced the first-ever harvest festival and joined the plant tour sponsored by Citicore.

Dar lauded the renewable energy-producing AgroSolar Project that provides livelihood opportunities for farmers to spur rural development.

"I would like to congratulate Citicore for bringing this project to life for farmers and the surrounding community," Dar said during his visit.

Urging farmers to form cooperatives, Dar said they will benefit from the extended services offered by the government that can easily be provided to local cooperatives, such as machinery distribution and construction of shared service facilities, among others.

Meanwhile, Herbosa also guaranteed that the financial institution will collaborate with all sectors to ensure that funds will be made accessible to farmers at affordable cost and manageable terms, adding that the institution is mandated primarily to promote countryside development and support farmers.

For his part, Angeles said the city government supports the AgroSolar project venture.

"We have close to 28,000 hectares of agricultural land across Tarlac and host about 7,466 farmers in the city, so rest assured we will tie up with [the Department of Agriculture and the DBP] to support our farmers," said Angeles.