SECTOR FOCUS

AGRILINK TURNS 19

Nineteen years of Agrilink and we’ve kept improving. As the number one and trailblazer in agribusiness exhibition, people in the agribusiness community have regarded Agrilink as a yearly tradition that needs to be visited and actively participated in. We continue to offer the best of what agribusiness has to offer—from products, to technologies, to markets—we don’t just have the information, we have the experts in attendance. From farm to fork, we’ve got them covered. And every year, we just keep getting bigger and better!

AGRILINK: THE YEAR THAT WAS

Last year, Agrilink’s theme focused on “Integration: Key to Sustainable Agriculture.” In line with this theme, the organizing committee chose Mr. Willy C. Co, President of Allied Botanical Corporation and member of Seed Industry Association as their overall Chairman. His expertise in the seed sector helped to showcase practically all agricultural seed varieties. He was also instrumental in helping us conceptualize seminars for the show. As in the previous years, the Department of Agriculture was the major sponsor of Agrilink as well as its attached agency, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) both of which provided financial and technical support to our three-day event. Close to 289 companies participated in the exhibited occupying 380 indoor and retail booths or 8,100 square meters and 1186 sqm in the outdoor exhibit. A big chunk of the exhibitors were local companies. There were also 264 sqm of exhibit area for foreign companies from 27 countries who participated in the exhibit. These were companies from France, China, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States, Canada, Italy Singapore, Vietnam and Japan. There were also Five (5) Indoor Pavilions: the French and Korean at the main exhibit and PHILFOODEX & OPTA Pavilions and AANI in the retail area. The French Pavilion was organized by Le Club-FCC and participated in by 8 French companies. The Korean Pavilion was organized by Korea Agricultural Machinery Industry Cooperative (KAMICO) and participated in by 7 Korean companies. The Department of Agriculture were participated not only the 20 DA regional field units but also some of the attached agencies like BAR, BAFPS, BFAR, PCA, and PHILRICE, while the Department of Agrarian Reform had 2 booths.

Registered visitors was recorded at 22,713 over a 3-day period with an estimated 5% who made repeat visits over the 3-day event.

This Year's Theme:
“IMPROVING ANIMAL PRODUCTIVITY BEYOND MEDICATION ”

Time was when animal health only meant getting rid of animal diseases and regular visits of veterinarians to farms. Today, the term animal health encompasses a whole gamut of facets since the world of agribusiness has also widened its scope. As we talk of animal health, we also get to include new technologies, animal housing design and equipment, building materials, layout and locations, drainage, waste management, controlled atmospheres and metered feeds and water inputs. All of these play a part in determining profitability. And as consumers continue to demand for safe, high quality animal products at competitive prices, animal health becomes crucial to improving production efficiency, lowering production cost and producing good quality products. It’s really going out of the box and viewing animal health in a holistic approach—something beyond the confines of feed and medication i.e. vaccines, antibiotics and vitamins.