To resolve the crisis of overproduction and postharvest losses, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking into the construction of more cold storage facilities to preserve crops and other perishable goods.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. recently visited the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), a DA firm in Taguig to store high-value produce like cabbages and other fruits and vegetables as well as other crops to increase their shelf life.

The facility construction will cost P500 million and will take at least a year to finish.

“The immediate problem is the oversupply [of tomatoes and cabbages] from time to time, so we should build storage in FTI,” Laurel said.

“[We want] to build a network for chilled cold storage systems."

Laurel also said that the system will have two types of cold storage-- frozen and chilled-- to avoid post-harvest waste.

To help address the current excess produce, the Agriculture chief ordered the FTI to buy from farmers and supply the products to Kadiwa centers.

“If there’s overproduction, instead of disposing, have FTI purchase them and place them into Kadiwa so that we can strengthen the program. I plan to bring the project back to FTI after two years.”

Moreover, Laurel wanted to centralize the agriculture logistic management matters to the incoming logistics office of the agency.

“All of DA’s cold storage will be moved to the logistics office, which will conduct research and inventory of all facilities within the Philippines to ensure synchronization,” he explained.

The DA secretary also added that the facility would include a processing plant and trading area that would allow buffer stocking, which benefits the farmers more.

Meanwhile, the DA-Cordillera (DA-CAR) assured that farmers would receive aid to overcome the challenged prices of vegetables.

Danilo Daguio, DA-CAR technical director (RTD) for operations, said the agency will continue to help them reach potential markets through the Kadiwa on Wheels program.

“If farmers need help selling their produce, we have the ‘Kadiwa on Wheels’ program, which is an ongoing initiative,” he said.

The Kadiwa program helps avoid intermediaries and allows local producers to sell their produce directly to consumers.

“The best thing farmers could do is approach their respective office of the municipal and provincial agriculturist, and they shall provide the necessary assistance,” Daguio added.

According to the DA-CAR, they were able to sell 40,000 kilograms (kg) of cabbage, and Chinese cabbage (wombok) after linking Cordillera vegetable farmers to different market groups within and outside of the region in early January.

Jennilyn Dawayan, officer-in-chief Regional Executive Director (RED), said that Kadiwa and other partnership initiatives help address the issues within agriculture and provide support to local farmers.

“Here in the Department of Agriculture, we are continuously locating farmers and reaching out to them. We also collaborate with local governments to check for areas of concern,” Dawayan expressed.

Last week, DA-CAR reported that a lack of buyers dated late December to January 3 caused a decrease in prices due to abnormal trading activities.

Currently, the agency announced that vegetables in CAR are being sold at P10 to P15 per kilo.