LUCENA CITY (PIA) -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) announced that it will provide more assistance to the agriculture sector as part of the national government’s support to local farmers and fishermen.
During a visit to the Sentrong Pamilihan ng mga Produktong Agrikultural in Sariaya, Quezon, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. expressed that the government has a responsibility to extend support to farmers, starting from production up to marketing, and in enhancing the capability and accessibility of the country’s several trading posts.
The Sentrong Pamilihan in Sariaya, established in 2007, serves as a main trading area for vegetables and other agricultural products in the province, where local farmers can converge and sell their harvests.
According to Tiu Laurel, the DA is preparing a national logistics plan that will connect vegetable farms and other food-growing areas in the countryside to food hubs like the Food Terminal, Inc. in Taguig City.
“We will link vegetable farmers with the Taguig mega cold storage and continue to provide support and assistance in terms of transport so they can sell their produce at the right price,” the secretary said.
Agriculture secretary Tiu Laurel said that by 2025, the initiative to modernize farms and fisheries nationwide will be in full implementation, as a bid to reduce the lack of investments he has observed for almost four decades, which has led to the declining contribution of agriculture to gross domestic product. (RAFIS)
He believes farming will be more sustainable if enough facilities are built for farmers to directly market their produce.
The local government of Sariaya has observed that having a trading post greatly benefitted the town’s farmers as they monitor an increase in their income.
Mayor Marcelo Gayeta said: “Ever since we had a trading post where farmers can directly sell their goods, their income has also increased. That’s why the local government continues to provide huge support to our farmers, especially in marketing their products.”
Tiu Laurel said that by 2025, the initiative to modernize farms and fisheries nationwide will be in full implementation, in a bid to reduce the lack of investments he has observed for almost four decades, which has led to the declining contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product. (CH/PIA-4A; with reports from DA)
