by Sentinel Times Team April 19, 2022 Opening of Farm-Ready’s Seedling Hub (Distribution Center) at Girasoles Farm in Candelaria, Quezon. (F...
April 19, 2022
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| Opening of Farm-Ready’s Seedling Hub (Distribution Center) at Girasoles Farm in Candelaria, Quezon. (From left to right: Candelaria Vice Mayor Ogie Suayan, Girasoles Farm Owner Vivian Dean, Farm-Ready Co-Chair Julius Sulit) |
CANDELARIA, Quezon - Farm-Ready GG Seedling Corporation, East-West Seed’s subsidiary and the first and largest professional seedling nursery in the Philippines partnered with Girasoles Farm and opened a flower and vegetable seedling hub in Girasoles Farm, By pass road, Masin Sur, Candelaria, Quezon on March 18, 2022.
The opening was capped with a flower fiesta and a vegetable demo showcasing around five thousand colorful flowers such as gerbera, vincas, petunias, marigolds, zinnias, dianthus, and sunflowers. A vegetable demo garden was also launched, featuring unique vegetables such as Heart F1 (heart-shaped bitter gourd), Guapito F1 (round eggplant), Amor F1 (green eggplant), Sophia F1 (butternut pumpkin), Primera F1 (ridge gourd), and Bonito F1 (short bitter gourd).
For those who want to start growing their own flowers and vegetables, they can buy their seedings in the new Farm-Ready seedling hub. A greenhouse was constructed inside Girasoles Farm’s facility, making it possible to have ready supply of quality seedlings.
The seedling hub offers a wide range of high-quality products such as flower plugs, ready-to-plant flowers and vegetables, ready-to-harvest vegetables, grafted plants, seeds from East-West Seed, soil media and a lot more.
Rudy Dean, proprietor of Girasoles Farm, welcomed the partnership with Farm Ready, saying it “made convenient and easy for clients to get access to quality flowers, vegetable seedlings and crop technologies”. Visitors at Girasoles will continue to enjoy enhanced flower blooms, relax in its curated gardens and vegetable fields, pick and eat their own veggies, taste local foods and bring home great pasalubongs.
“The Farm-Ready Seedling Hub in Girasoles Farm will address the increasing demand for quality seedlings of fruits and vegetables in the South. Borrowing a quote from East West Seed Founder and 2019 World Food Prize Laureate Simon N. Groot, “Vegetables are food for the body, while Flowers are food for the soul!” The Farm Ready seedling hub at Girasoles Farm is in support of our mission to bring innovative products and services closer to our customers, promote sustainable farming and improve the quality of life of our customers!” said Ricardo Reyes, Business Unit Manager of Farm-Ready.
Market leader
East-West Seed is the market leader for tropical vegetable seeds in Asia and expanding rapidly in Africa and Latin America. The privately-owned company has played an important role in the development and improvement of tropical vegetable varieties in Southeast Asia and other tropical countries. When Dutch seedsman Simon Groot and Filipino seed trader Benito Domingo founded the company in 1982 in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines, they set out to improve the income of smallholder farmers in the tropics through high-quality seeds.
East-West Seed develops vegetable varieties that are adapted to tropical markets and growing conditions and generate increased yield and productivity for farmers. In addition, the company educates farmers and helps them to maximize their yield and income through better knowledge on vegetable production.
Today, East-West Seed is one of the 10 largest vegetable seed companies in the world. In 2016, East-West Seed ranked #1 in the “Global Index for Vegetable Seed Companies” and “Regional Index for Eastern Africa” by Access to Seeds, an independent organization funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The company maintained its #1 ranking in the 2019 Global and South and Southeast Asia Indices. The Seed Index measures the efforts of the world’s leading seed companies to enhance the productivity of smallholder farmers.
East-West Seed is a fast-growing, multicultural organization with around 5,000 employees. It has 14 R&D establishments in 6 countries and 10 seed processing facilities in 7 countries. The company exports to over 60 countries in tropical areas of the world. It has its headquarters in Thailand. In the Philippines, East-West Seed has 3 R&D establishments in Batangas and Bukidnon, and its local head office is located in San Rafael, Bulacan. Find out more at www.eastwestseed.com.
First veggie seedling nursery
East-West Seed’s sister company, the Farm Ready GG Seedling Corporation is the first and leading professional vegetable seedling nursery in the Philippines. The company develops new technologies and innovations to provide high-quality seedlings and services for the growth of Philippine vegetables and ornamental industries.
One of the pioneer innovations of Farm-Ready is the grafted seedlings of bitter gourd and tomato. This new technology was developed and introduced to farmers to provide solutions to different soil-borne diseases such as bacterial and fusarium wilts, nematodes and abiotic stresses such as water-stress.
Vivier's Bloom becomes Girasoles Farm
Girasoles Farm started as a simple flower and ornamental retailing store in Lucena, Quezon in 2000 known as “Vivier’s Bloom”.
In 2010, Ms. Vivian Dean started a 2,000 sq.m. farm in Candelaria, Quezon. They decided to plant sunflower seeds in some parts of the farm and opened it to the public.
After eight years, they named it “Girasoles Farm” which means “Sunflower” in Italian. Today, Girasoles Farm is gradually gaining popularity and is well recognized as one of Quezon’s top tourist destinations. Currently, Girasoles Farm covers an area of one hectare (1ha) and is still being renovated and beautified.
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