4/23/2004 (DAVAO CITY) - San Miguel Corp. and Quedan and Rural CreditGuarantee Corp. (Quedancor) are putting up a P2-billion soybean plantationproject in Surigao del Sur.

Nelson Buenaflor, Quedancor president, said both parties have committed P1billion each for the project. He said a 400-hectare property had beenidentified in the province for the plantation.

Surigao del Sur used to be part of Southern Mindanao since it is DavaoOriental's neighbor. However, it became part of the Caraga Region in thelate 1990s.

Mr. Buenaflor met members of the Davao media on Tuesday in observance ofQuedancor's 2004 Agri-Credit Week. He said San Miguel has already releasedan initial P50 million to be made available as loans to farmerbeneficiaries.

The plan is for each participating farmer to oversee a 1.5-hectare farmwithin the plantation. The farmer could avail of a minimum loan amount ofP50,000. The loan would be granted collateral-free, Mr. Buenaflor said.

Quedancor, he said, is looking at commercial-scale soybean production inMindanao since it is a major industrial input, both for human consumptionand animal feed. He said the country is currently importing its industrialsoybean requirement.

Even supplier countries also run short of soybean supply because ofoverwhelming demand from local industries, Mr. Buenaflor said. He citedChina as a potential market given its huge population. China is a soybean-producing country but it still imports a huge volume of this commoditybecause of huge domestic demand, he said.