IMPROVING SUPPLIES. Red onions abound at Kamuning Public Market in Quezon City on Tuesday (Jan. 17, 2023). From as high as PHP350 per kilo in wet markets early this month, the Department of Agriculture said Monday (Jan. 23) prices are expected to go down with the impending arrival of 400 metric tons of yellow onions and 800 metric tons of red onions. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler) MANILA - Farmers should be given direct access to the market to avoid traders who, more often than not, profit more. Senator Cynthia Villar said Tuesday it is time for the country to change its food value chain to give farmers more profit and for less expense on the part of the consumers. The national government has activated more Kadiwa stores starting November last year to reduce logistics costs and improve agricultural infrastructure that will ensure food security. Data from 2022 showed Kadiwa stores served 450 farmer groups and some 1.22 milllion households in less than two months, generating PHP
(PNA photo by Joey O. Razon) MANILA - The Department of Agriculture (DA) will build six cold storage facilities infour onion-producing regions starting this year in support of local farmers. Each facility with a capacity of 20,000 bags will cost up to PHP40 million and will rise in theIlocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Mimaropa regions. "Tayuan po ng mga storage facility nang sa gayon during peak season ng harvest, malagyan na. Hindi po sagot ang importation. Napakalaking potensyal po ng lugar namin (Let's build storage facilities so that during peak harvest season, we can utilize it. Importation is not the answer. Our place has a big potential)," San Jose, Occidental Mindoro agriculturist Romel Calingasan told a Senate hearing on Monday. Two cold storage facilities will be built in Occidental Mindoro but Calisangan raised concerns over the locations. For instance, a planned facility in Rizal town is about 16 to 20 kilometers away from San Jose, the largest onion-p
COLD ONION STORAGE FACILITY. The Department of Agriculture (DA) has turned over two onion cold storage facilities to farmer-members of the Valiant Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija. Funded by the DA under the High-Value Crops Development Program, the facilities have the capacities of 10,000 bags and 20,000 bags. (Photo by DA Region 3) CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - The Department of Agriculture (DA) has turned over two cold storage facilities in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija that will address the problem of post-harvest storage of onion farmers. In a report by DA regional office 3 on Thursday, DA Undersecretary for High-Value Crops and Rural Credit Evelyn Lavina led the turnover of the 10,000 bags and 20,000 bags capacity of cold onion storage facilities to onion farmers of Valiant Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Barangay Marcos Village in Palayan City on Tuesday. Lavina said the projects are in line with the DA's goals of a food-secure and a resilie
COLD STORAGE FACILITY. Department of Agriculture Executive Regional Director Crispulo G. Bautista Jr. delivers his message during the turnover ceremony of a PHP20-million onion cold storage facility to the Sapang Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Barangay Ablang Sapang, Moncada, Tarlac on Wednesday (March 16, 2022). The facility can store 10,000 bags of dry bulb onions and prolong their shelf life for six to eight months. (Photo courtesy of DA-3) CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - Onion farmers in Barangay Ablang Sapang, Moncada, Tarlac stand to benefit from a cold storage facility project of the Department of Agriculture (DA). The DA Regional Field Office 3 on Wednesday formally turned over the PHP20-million facility to the Sapang Multi-Purpose Cooperative, one of the groups that participated in an expansion project of the agency's High-Value Crops Development Program for onion. DA Executive Regional Director Crispulo G. Bautista Jr. said the project intends to increase the price of bulb