The Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 1 has funded a Php5M worth Consolidation and Trading facility in Ilocos Norte which will be managed by the Bacarra Zanjera Multipurpose Cooperative.

“Through this project, agricultural products of Ilocos Norte will be consolidated and marketed in Metro Manila and other established Kadiwa Market centers,” explained Ms. Wilhelmina Castañeda, DA-RFO1 Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division Chief, during the groundbreaking ceremony on February 22. 

This facility was subsidized through the Enhanced KADIWA ni Ani at Kita Inclusive Food and Supply Chain, a financial assistance program to develop Farmers and Fisherfolk Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) as reliable and efficient food commodity suppliers not only in the region but including high demand areas such as Metro-Manila.
The program has three types of financial grants purposely for packing facilities, consolidation, and KADIWA retailing.

The Bacarra Zanjera MPC is one of the three qualified beneficiaries in the region to spearhead consolidation of agricultural produce in Ilocos Norte given the cooperative’s years of proven management experience. 

“Malaking tulong po ito (pertaining to the consolidation and trading facility) sa munisipyo ng Bacarra at sa probinsya ng Ilocos Norte,” said Ilocos Norte Matthew M. Manotoc who also shared his goal to set Ilocos Norte as ‘a little province that will soon feed the country.’

“The Philippines is now enduring a food crisis. I know that Ilocos Norte is not one of those feeling the crisis but I do believe that Ilocos Norte can be one of the solutions to this,’ he noted.

As per PSA 2019 data, the province of Ilocos Norte tops the production on garlic, onion, tomato, and mungbean besides the only province in the region remaining free from the African Swine Fever virus. 

“May we continue to supplement the nation’s food supply and be a great assistance to the food security problems the Philippines faces,” he added. 

Meanwhile, the municipality of Vintar was also awarded a Php6M worth Rice Processing Center 1 which will be operated by Alviar Multi-Purpose Cooperative and a PhP7.2M worth Solar Powered Irrigation System which will soon benefit farmers of the Beng-bengcag Solar Pump Farmers Association, Incorporated. ###