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LA
TRINIDAD, Benguet—President Arroyo has identified the
Cordillera region as the center for the manufacturing of
vegetable-based noodles with the launch of the “Veggie
Noodle Project.”
“There
is abundance of vegetable production in the
Cordilleras,” she said during her visit Saturday in this
town. “Vegetable-fortified noodles [are] more nutritious
and delicious and less costly to manufacture in this era
of soaring wheat prices.”
The
President handed over a P10-million check to Benguet
State University (BSU) to concentrate on the research
and development of the veggie noodles-manufacturing
project.
The
noodle prototypes could later be shared, she said, with
noodles manufacturers, and even with the “Go Negosyo”
entrepreneurship program.
The BSU
can partner with vegetable processors to noodle makers
for the production of processed vegetables, and cited
several entrepreneurs that the local vegetable industry
could tie up with for the production of veggie noodles.
Among
others, these are Dizon family of the Dizon Farm, RFP
Corp. chairman and chief executive officer Jose
Concepcion, the Chan family of the Liwayway Marketing
Corp., maker of Oishi snack products.
Arroyo
said vegetable noodles will likewise improve the income
of farmers and solve storage problems. The prototypes of
the “more nutritious and delicious vegetable-fortified
noodles” could become part of the stock of the
government’s “Tindahan Natin” program.
According to Dr. Rogelio Colting, BSU president, the
Vegetable Noodles project is also looking at producing
veggie pastas, meats, sausages, nuggets, fresh juices,
fresh cuts, grates and strips, soup base, flour and
ketchup.
Arroyo
was in La Trinidad to distribute “social service”
goodies, and likewise toured vegetable farms and
strawberry fields. She was joined in vegetable and
strawberry picking by her two granddaughters. |
