The Allied Botanical Corporation or ABC forged a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the university on December 18 for its eco-agri scholarship grant.

     The scholarship grant will be for BS Agriculture students majoring in agribusiness management, agricultural economics, agronomy, entomology, horticulture, plant pathology, soil science and organic agriculture that will be screened by the OSA. Agriculture students who may qualify must: be in the second year; have obtained an average grade of 2.0 or better; have no dropped, failed, or incomplete mark in any subject including NSTP and PE; be a Filipino citizen; not a beneficiary of any major scholarship or financial aid; be physically fit and; have good moral character.

     The said grant will give full coverage of tuition and other fees plus an allowance of Php. 2,500.00 every month, the highest allowance among other scholarship grants from the private sector.

     "We're giving them a car, we also need to give them fuel," said ABC Corporation Communications Manager, Rommel Lopez.

     ABC President and General Manager, Mr. Willy U. Co, said that the company chose BSU for the scholarship grant as a way of giving what the company has received from the university and from the Benguet farmers.

     The experimental fields of BSU at Balili accommodated field trials of ABC seeds since the 1980s. Benguet farmers are also the major consumers of ABC seeds.

     Both Mr. Co and Dr. Colting hoped that the scholarship will also inspire students to preserve the environment and practice sustainable agriculture. Dr. Colting expressed interest in collaborating with the company on endeavours relative to climate change and environmental preservation.

     ABC is one of the leading agricultural seed companies in the country and the most dominant vegetable seed company in the Cordillera. It is involved in the breeding, seed production, marketing and sales of high yielding, pest resistant and nutritious vegetable hybrids. It is also notable that the ABC team of Benguet are all BSU graduates.