To address the country’s rice and corn production woes, the Philippines will need P93 billion to build post-harvest facilities in the next three years, Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. presides over a sectoral meeting with Agriculture officials on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Photo from the Presidential Communications Office)

This, he added, would save about P10 billion a year of rice and corn wastage.

The Agriculture chief made this remark after a sectoral meeting with President Marcos, with whom he discussed about the agency’s three-year plan “Para sa Masaganang Bagong Pilipinas.”

“Because we’re losing about 12.7 to 15 percent of our rice production due to lack of post-harvest facility. So, sa rice and corn pa lang na post-harvest, P93 billion na eh (for post-harvest of rice and corn, we need P93 billion),” Laurel said.

“Sa (For) cold storage, my budget this year is only P1 billion so ipo-focus ko lahat iyon sa apat na (I will focus it on four) cold storage to address that vegetable issue – but that can only cover part of Luzon.”

But to solve the issue by 2025, the official explained he would need an additional P5 billion “to address the vegetable cold storage issue of the whole nation.”

“How to get the money . . . I’m still new at the government so I’m still trying to figure that out also,” he added.

Developing and improving post-harvest systems and infrastructure is part of the DA’s three-year plan under the Masagana Agri-Food Infrastructure Modernization (MAFIM) program of the National Food Authority (NFA).

The plan will also focus on expanding agri-fishery areas for increased production and modernizing agri and fishery production system.

Laurel said that under the three-year plan, the DA will invest heavily on post-harvest facilities to have more product recovery and to lower the cost of rice and corn.

He revealed that a post-harvest facility will soon rise in Dingras, Ilocos Norte which has a 120 MT capacity, with similar facilities to be built in Concepcion, Tarlac; Dumangas, Iloilo and Musuan Maramag, Bukidnon.

Other projects being laid out under the MAFIM program include building 196 dryers, 48 silos, 221 warehouses, 57 rice mills, 24 corn mills, and 638 handling equipment.

“We also have a very big move on the logistics – 30 percent of our produce especially of vegetables is gone because of wastage, because of the poor logistics system in our food supply chain,” Laurel said adding, “if we can lessen or hopefully almost eliminate iyong losses na iyon (those losses), that will be equivalent to at least 10 to 15 percent less cost sa ating mga (in our) vegetables and high-value crops like fruits.”

Laurel also intends to reorganize the agency to make it less regulatory but still effective and developmental in regulations and food safety.