CABARROGUIS, Quirino (PIA)- -The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) committed their support to boost further and ensure the sustainability of the ube industry in Quirino province.
Mary Ann Corpuz Dy, DTI provincial director, said during the recently conducted Ube Industry Stakeholders meeting organized by the Provincial Agriculture Office, in partnership with Quirino State University (QSU), that their office will continuously assist in market promotion, product development, and certification.
“DTI will also assist in terms of institutional development with the various stakeholders towards synchronized provision of interventions in support of the Ube Industry Development Project,” Dy said.
To ensure the sustainability of ube raw materials for powder production, DA will introduce Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to pilot Farmers Cooperative and Associations (FCAs) who will be tapped to supply raw material requirements for ube powder processing, identify consolidators who will facilitate the collection and delivery of fresh ube and link the FCAs to other markets.
Furthermore, DA committed to facilitating the GAP Certification of five FCAs by conducting a GAP Orientation Training and Seminar on 18-19 June 2024 and providing other technological and infrastructure support.
The Ube Industry Stakeholders meeting which was held at the QSU Training Center in Diffun was attended by by the representatives of the DA 02 Regulatory Division, Diffun Municipal Agriculture Office, Quirino Young Entrepreneurs Association, and five FCAs, namely: Gabriela Masipag Farmers Cooperative, Diffun Organic Farmers Cooperative, Baguio Village Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Don Mariano Perez Farmers Consumers Cooperative and Magsaysay United Upland Farmers Development Association.
On the other hand, the provincial government pledged its support through the distribution of an initial 1,000 kilograms of ube planting materials sourced out from FCAs to retain the quality of native ube variety.
Recently, Quirino’s ube powder under the brand JaBes manufactured by the Quirino Young Entrepreneurs Association entered the Japanese market for the third time after the successful delivery of another 500-kilo batch of ube powder. (OTB/TCB/PIA-2, QUIRINO)
