On February 20, 2024, the Calamba Upland Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CUFAMCO) conducted a stakeholders’ meeting at CUFAMCO LSA, Bunggo, Calamba City. The meeting aimed to discuss the Cluster Development Plan of the said cooperative for the Farm and Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation Program (F2C2) pursuant to Administrative Order No. 27, Series of 2020. The F2C2 program aims to consolidate the products of small farmers to enable them to produce the quantity and quality of products that can be sold directly to high value markets.
A team from BIOMECH, led by Dr. Ronel S. Pangan, attended the said meeting to explore how the center can contribute to the implementation of F2C2 for CUFAMCO. A productive discussion took place, with a presentation from CUFAMCO and valuable inputs from its stakeholders, aimed at further enhancing the cluster development of the cooperative for the F2C2 program.
BIOMECH has been extending its services for the mechanization needs of CUFAMCO. The collaboration started when BIOMECH (then AMDP) provided the UPLB Flatbed Dryer for the corn production program of CUFAMCO in 2008. The cooperative encountered a major problem during harvest season when it coincided with the rainy season. AMDP provided and demonstrated the use of the flatbed dryer to the corn farmers which enabled them to proceed with the drying operations of their 70-hectare corn field. Since then, the collaboration between BIOMECH and CUFAMCO has been continuous.
(Mel Vincent A. Ampo)