DA steps up efforts linking farm producers to wholesale buyers

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is connecting agricultural producers to more consumers and institutional buyers, hoping to increase the farmers’ income and avoid waste of produce.

In a statement on Friday, the DA said it was bolstering market linkages through contract farming with hotels, restaurants and other institutional buyers. This is to bring surplus harvests directly to end-users.

Aside from boosting the entire agricultural value chain covering food growers to consumers, this move also intends to stabilize local food supply and retail prices.

To realize these goals, the DA plans to distribute delivery trucks and vegetable crates to more farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) and municipalities via its Enhanced Kadiwa Grant.

The agency identified 10 municipalities as beneficiaries of this grant in the past year.

This forms part of the agency’s efforts to enhance intervention being provided to farmers and fisherfolk, thereby facilitating the delivery of produce to areas where these are in demand, with zero to minimal wastage and supply excess of agricultural goods.

The agency said some P2.589 million worth of onions had been sold by FCAs to institutional buyers  in September 2022 to Jan. 24, 2023.

Broken down, the cooperatives managed to sell 3,478 kilograms of red onions with value totaling P755,455 and 5,106.38 kg of white onions worth P1.833 million.

The DA also handed a four-wheel truck worth over P1.325 million to RiceUp Farmers Inc. in Pampanga. RiceUp previously received P1 million in financial grant via the DA’s Enhanced Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita program.

Also, RiceUp and agritech solutions company Sakahon farmer partners regularly bring their produce to the DA Kadiwa outlet in Quezon City.

In the last week of January, they brought 1.5 tons of onions priced at P240 per kg for big sizes and P140/kg for small sizes at the DA Kadiwa and the Senate.

Meanwhile, the DA is looking into reports on the dumping of about 500 kg of small tomatoes priced at P8 to P12 per kg at the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Trading (NVAT) last Jan. 25.

NVAT marketing officer Julio Basilan earlier explained that buyers tended to purchase larger-sized produce despite lower prices of the smaller commodity.

In Metro Manila, tomatoes are sold from P25 to P70/kg against P40 to P70/kg a year ago, based on the DA’s price monitoring as of Friday.

—Jordeene B. Lagare INQ