DA, private firm to boost Leyte rice sector

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to enter into a partnership with a private company that invested P1.7 billion for the development of a modern rice processing complex and acquisition of various farm machinery in Leyte and southern towns of Samar Island to boost rice industry in these areas.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the DA would coordinate with Patrick Renucci and his Filipino-Chinese wife, Rachel Tan, who owns the Che Yi Agventures. Piñol said the couple had agreed to work with the DA “in implementing their dream of turning Leyte into one of the biggest rice production areas of the country.”