An improved strawberry farm would be seen by next year as the Benguet State University and the municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet will strengthen their partnership to upgrade the town’s main tourist attraction.
Newly installed BSU President Felipe Comila said he will introduce new plans at the strawberry fields including infrastructure projects and improvement of the marketing of strawberries.
For the infrastructure, Comila said he plans to put up an elevated walkway that would be a centerpiece of the farm.
“The elevated walkway will be strawberry-shaped and people who have partners in life or who do not have partners in life could go there. In this walkway, I intend to showcase the 13 municipalities of the province,” Comila said.
The walkway would be about two meters off the ground that would provide a view of the strawberry field and the valley.
He recognizes that the project would entail restructuring of the current field that’s why the lessees must be informed about the plan.
BSU has leased the 30-hectare strawberry field to various farmers in the municipality.
“In coming up with that elevated walkway, it might come up with some disturbance in their farms that might cause challenge to them. But we will discuss with them that after this, all the more their products would be highly marketed, no need to bring somewhere, it could be marketed right there and then,” he said.
Aside from the planned walkway, he intends to bolster the research on improving the strawberries and marketing of the fruit and its by-products.
The walkway would be complementary with the P50 million proposed viewdeck and improvement of the strawberry farms as earlier pledged by Benguet legislative caretaker Rep. Eric Yap.
Mayor Romeo Salda, meanwhile, said the LGU is currently finalizing its plan for the tourism aspect of the strawberry field to be presented to BSU.
Salda said the LGU and the institution would soon be meeting to discuss their counterparts in making the tourism projects a reality. – Ofelia C. Empian
