My Heart Goes To Farmer Cooperatives, DA’s Heart Goes To Groups Who Have No Facilities For Storage Before Marketing Of Produce

It seems only now that farmers have a Secretary of Agriculture who knows much of what they need, from seeding to selling: William Dar, who is from a poor family in Ilocos Sur.

Last year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) began constructing an onion cold storage facility in Moncada, Tarlac (Glen S Ramos, 22 June  2021, “DA To Construct Onion Cold Storage Facility In Moncada,” Maharlika.tv). The building, all 364 sqm of it, has been finished (bottom image). Zorayda Tecson says, “DA Turns Over P20-M Onion Cold Storage Facility To Tarlac Farmers” (16 March 2022, Philippine News Agency, PNA.gov.ph). The facility is for 820 onion farmers in Moncada, members of the Sapang Multi-Purpose Cooperative. Note: Cooperative. Under Mr Dar, the DA deals with formal farmer groups: associations, cooperatives, clusters, because: In union there is strength!

Regional Executive Director Crispulo G Bautista Jr of DA Region 3 says, “The project intends to (improve) the price of bulb onions in lean months while maintaining the supply in the local market and encouraging more farmers to engage in onion farming.” The cold storage will help increase the shelf life of bulbs and decrease postharvest losses – resulting in increased farm income for the producers.

Cesario Tabago, President of the Sapang coop, says the cold storage is a big help as it enables farmers to store produce in a safe place and obtain a good price for it at the market-appropriate time. He says, “Matatanggal na ang mga middlemen na karaniwang bumibili ng aming produkto sa napakababang halaga” (This removes those middlemen who ordinarily buy our produce at very low prices).

During the turnover, Ms Zorayda says, “Bautista assured (his listeners) the DA will build more (such) facilities in the region to help save the farmers from huge post-harvest losses.” The storage facility will prolong the shelf life of onions for 6 to 8 months. At anytime, the setup has a total capacity of 10,000 bags of dry bulb onions, equivalent to the total harvest of 24 ha. It is part of the DA's program Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2). “Recover” has reference to losses due to Covid19 restrictions as well as incomplete farmer facilities for proper storage of bulbs while awaiting welcome signs for marketing.

The facility can reduce postharvest losses from 10 to 15% even as it maintains the quality of the produce. Now, the onion growers do nothave to dispose of their harvest just to catch up with the open market – with cold storage, the bulbs can wait for the market to open at reasonable prices.

Since Sapang is a cooperative, I know from being a member of one in my hometown Asingan in Pangasinan, that as a member, the farmer can borrow from the coop at any time for any purpose; with the storage facility, if the price of onions is notright, s/he doesn’t have to sell just to have funds for the household. Finally, the market will now favor the farmers!@517