PILI, Camarines Sur (PIA) — More than 204,000 farmers stand to benefit from a P500-million cold storage plant in Camarines Sur, designed to preserve harvests and increase tillers’ income.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said that the facility in Barangay San Jose, Pili town, which is now operational, will enable farmers to store and process their produce, allowing them to time their sales instead of selling immediately after harvest at low prices.
On Monday, March 23, no less than President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. led the inauguration of the 7.5-hectare agri-industrial hub.
The President said that farmers will be organized to ensure that the agricultural sector has full control of the facility.
“Kaya naman ito ginawa ay para mas maganda ang kita ng mga farmers. Alam natin na ang nagpapakain sa buong Pilipinas ay mga magsasaka,” the President said.
(This initiative aims to improve the income of farmers. We know that it is the farmers who feed the entire Philippines.)
Rodel Tornilla, the director of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for Bicol, said that the mega facility, a flagship investment of the DA, will reduce transport costs and enable processors, traders, and exporters to operate more effectively and efficiently.
Tornilla said that the DA aims to capture all local farmers’ harvests and maintain price stability. The mega cold storage plant has a capacity of 132,533 tons of agricultural supply.
He added that this facility helps in planning and scheduling of product releases and storage to prevent rapid deterioration of quality.
Adeline Ragas, a member of the San Lorenzo Farmers Agriculture Cooperative in Camarines Norte, expressed that with this large storage facility in the Bicol region, spoilage of their surplus harvests will be significantly reduced.
She said that it would help prevent losses during fluctuating market prices.
“With the establishment of this cold storage, our surplus produce can be stored longer without spoiling while we wait for better prices, even when there is an abundant supply,” Ragas said, speaking in Bicol dialect.
Precy Fragata, a senior citizen and president of the Curry Vegetable Growers Association in Pili, Camarines Sur, expressed her gratitude to the President for the opportunities provided to their sector.
“We extend our heartfelt thanks to our President for showing concern by establishing this large facility here in Camarines Sur,” she said. Source: PIA Bicol