Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros on Saturday urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to build more cold storage facilities to help farmers.
Hontiveros and former senator Francis Pangilinan consulted with onion farmers in Occidental Mindoro, which is part of the largest onion-producing region Region 4B.
“We should give farmers what they need. Bago magsimula ang budget hearings ng Senado, dapat na maglabas ng plano ang DA at DTI para magkaroon na ng sapat na cold storage facilities ang ating mga magsasaka. Malaking kaluwagan ito hindi lang sa magsasaka, kundi sa mga konsyumer dahil maiiwasan na ang biglaang pagtaas sa presyo ng bilihin,“ Hontiveros said in a statement.
(We should give farmers what they need. Before budget hearings begin in the Senate, the DA and the DTI should present their plans to develop more cold storage facilities for our farmers. It will be a huge relief to our farmers, as well as consumers to avoid sudden price surges of goods).
According to Honitveros, the farmers they consulted conveyed that the lack of proper storage units contributed to their harvest and revenue losses. For them to recover their capital, onion prices should not fall below P100 per kilogram.
The senator recommended that the new cold storage units should be in Mindoro, Nueva Ecija, Ilocos, and Pangasinan to ease the farmers’ losses.
“The country can also adopt the practice in India where the government provides concessional financing so the private sector will build more cold storage facilities,” Hontiveros’ statement said.
Hontiveros said that this would allow small farmers to be prioritized and that the government can form a long term investment for agricultural products.
“It does not have to be heavy on the budget. Eventually the availability of cold storage facilities will be a catalyst for the production of other seasonal farm produce,” she said.