Negrense agriculturist Roberto Alaban made it to the Top 25 of the Business in Development Challenge, an international business planning competition that drew 1,600 entries from 90 countries.

The BID Challenge, organized by the Philippine Business for Social Progress, supports innovative business ideas that reduce poverty in developing countries at a profit. Participants are also able to start their business through investor financing. In his entry, Alaban proposes to produce high-yielding vegetables using simplified, non-circulating hydroponics to seize the opportunity brought about by the increase in vegetable salad consumption across all economic classes.

The trend, he said, is sparked by the growing health consciousness of consumers and the appearance of salads in the menus of mass-market fast food chains, with lettuce as the base component, a press release from Alaban said.

The proposed business will produce fresh, hygienic and pesticide-free whole lettuce and other salad greens using an extremely low-cost, soil-less farming technology called Simplified, Non-circulating Hydroponics (SiNcH).

It will be grown by persons with physical disabilities and marketed directly to consumers. He is also eyeing institutional buyers such as supermarkets, hotels, resorts and restaurants, the press release added. He said he will partner with the National Federation of Cooperatives of Persons with Disability. The proponent will be the technology provider and in-house production specialist, while NFCPWD will provide the capital and operate the project through its member-cooperatives acting as autonomous business units in different parts of the country.

For the first three years, business units will be established in five biggest Philippine cities: Metro Manila, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao and Puerto Princesa.

This business is not only a profitable enterprise and source of livelihood for the PWDs, but also showcases a food-production technology that eliminates soil-erosion-causing tillage, avoids fertilizer run-off and the use of herbicides and pesticides.

Growing the salad greens will also use only 5 percent of the water and one-third the space needed by soil-based farming, Alaban added.

The business directly addresses the 1st Millenium Development Goal to "Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty"; the 2nd MDG: "Promote gender equality and empower women" as well as the 7th MDG that seeks to "Ensure environmental sustainability".

Alaban's plan, together with the other presentors who made it to Phase 2 of the competition, will be presented to potential investors and the public during the launch of the Philippine BID Challenge slated Sept. 15 to 17, 2006, the press release said.

The BID Challenge offers over P1 million start-up capital to successful entries.

For more information, log on to www.bidnetwork.org/philippines.*

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