Onion farmers in Nueva Ecija would no longer have to race against time in selling their produce and settle for a cheaper price once the P206-million cold storage facility is constructed in the province.
“Once the cold storage facility is built, you (onion farmers) need not go into rush-selling of your onions for fear of seeing the fruits of your hard labor rotting and wasted," Department of Agrarian (DAR) Secretary Bro. John Castriciones said during the turnover of the lot for the facility on May 12.
"You can store them in the facility when the price is low and sell them when the price gets back to the normal level,” he noted.
The facility will be built on a 1.2-hectare lot in Barangay Bantug Hacienda in the municipality of Talavera, according to the DA official, adding that it will be instrumental in ensuring the steady supply of onions in the country for the whole year.
The secretary further said that the project would help onion farmers enjoy greater income and prevent them from being shortchanged by unscrupulous middlemen or traders who usually buy their products at a bargain price.
The facility is designed to accommodate 120,000 bags of onions. It will also serve onion farmers from neighboring towns of Aliaga, Quezon, and Santo Domingo.
The World Bank shoulders 80 percent of the project’s total cost while the national and the Talavera municipal governments will take care of the remaining 20 percent.