The Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC), together with the Barangay government of Latud in the municipality of Rizal, Palawan, is implementing a 3-hectare intercropping plantation in Barangay Latud featuring coffee, corn and other crops.
The project is part of the company’s partnership with the local government unit in connection with its Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) and strengthened community engagement efforts, according to RTNMC.
RTNMC said the plantation is intended to provide crops for local consumption while creating livelihood opportunities for the community.
The intercropping setup allows coffee and other agricultural crops to be grown within the same plantation area.
The initiative adds to RTNMC’s previous agricultural and livelihood interventions in communities in southern Palawan.
Company records show that RTNMC has implemented coffee-related livelihood activities under its SDMP.
A previous Nickel Asia sustainability report said the company supported a coffee plantation project involving eight cooperatives and 250 beneficiaries, while also providing farm inputs to farmer associations in Barangay Latud, Ocayan and other non-impact barangays.
RTNMC and Coral Bay Nickel Corporation also previously implemented a Coffee Plantation Development Project involving eight barangays, with training and technical activities covering coffee production and related agricultural practices.
The program included an initiative known as “Gulayan sa Kapehan,” which explored suitable agricultural crops that could be cultivated alongside coffee.
The company’s earlier coffee initiatives provide background to its continued use of agriculture as part of its community livelihood programs.
In Barangay Latud, farming is also an established livelihood activity. RTNMC previously reported that residents of Sitio Tagpas, a community within the barangay, identify farming as their primary source of livelihood. The same report noted that almost all residents of the sitio are members of the Palaw’an Indigenous community.
The Latud plantation is being developed within this broader agricultural and community-development setting.
The project also comes as Rizal continues to receive government support for agricultural development.
In February 2026, the Department of Agriculture-MIMAROPA distributed two agricultural drones worth more than P3.5 million to the Municipal Government of Rizal and the CAMAGBABATA Agriculture Cooperative to support mechanization and improve farming efficiency, particularly in rice production.
Earlier, a DA demonstration in Rizal recorded an average harvest of about 8.25 tons of palay per hectare on a 10-hectare rice area in Barangay Candawaga, as part of efforts to promote drone-assisted farming and reduce production costs.
For RTNMC, the Latud intercropping plantation forms part of its continuing SDMP-related community programs, which have included livelihood assistance, agricultural inputs and other interventions in host and neighboring communities.
The company has previously described its Enterprise and Livelihood Program under the SDMP as focusing on people, community and economic development, with agriculture among the activities supported in its partner communities.
The 3-hectare Latud project brings those efforts into a single agricultural site, combining coffee, corn and other crops intended for local consumption and livelihood use.
As the plantation develops, its progress will depend on the continued management and cultivation of the crops by the community and the participating partners.
