Manila : The Philippines and Brazil are set to cooperate on sugarcane and ethanol production, said the Department of Agriculture (DA) recently.
The cooperation will involve Brazil sending a team of experts to the Philippines to help expand sugarcane plantations, promote farm efficiency, and improve production chains.
The Philippines will also send students to Brazil to study sugarcane cultivation and ethanol production.
The two countries will also collaborate on research and development projects in the sugarcane and ethanol industries.
The cooperation is seen as a way to boost sugarcane production and ethanol output in the Philippines, which could create jobs and boost the economy.
It could also help the Philippines to reduce its dependence on imported oil and become more energy self-sufficient.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Brazil is number one in the world at making sugar. They make about 22% of all the sugar in the world.
A person from the DA’s Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said the Philippines can learn a lot from Brazil. They can learn how to improve the soil, manage farms better, and use better farming tools. The SRA visited São Paulo, Brazil in January and saw that the things Brazil does can work in the Philippines too.
The Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Policy Research and Development, Noel Padre, and ABC’s Technical Cooperation Manager, Antonio Junqueira, both said they want to make the partnership between the Philippines and Brazil stronger. They want to help people in the Philippines who work with sugarcane and ethanol.
Brazil is the world’s top sugar producer and has a long history of sugarcane cultivation and ethanol production. The country has developed a number of best practices in these areas, which the Philippines can benefit from.