Members of the Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Council (PAFC) agreed here recently to apply for variety protection the Igorota PO3, a high quality potato seed, before the government's intellectual property rights office.
The variety was bred at the Northern Philippines Root Crops Research and Training Center (NPRCRTC) at the Benguet State University here from planting materials imported from the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru.
Aurelio Lapniten, PAFC chair, said the move was meant to boost a P4.7-million potato seed production project in the Cordillera that aimed to supply the need of local farmers for quality planting materials.
