(REUTERS/Files)
MANILA, Philippines – A total of P93 billion is needed to build the proper post-harvest facilities and prevent wasting corn and rice, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on Tuesday.
Laurel said around 12.7 to 15 percent of rice production is lost due to the lack of post-harvest facilities.
“Sa rice and corn pa lang na post-harvest, P93 billion na eh. Sa cold storage, my budget this year is only P1 billion, so ipo-focus ko lahat iyon sa apat na cold storage to address that vegetable issue, but that can only cover part of Luzon,” Laurel said in a Palace briefing.
(For rice and corn post-harvest, it is already P93 billion. For cold storage, my budget this year is only P1 billion, so we will focus all of that on four cold storage to address that vegetable issue, but that can only cover part of Luzon.)
Laurel said that among the four cold storage facilities, one will be in Taguig City, somewhere in the Cordillera Administrative Region, another in La Union or Benguet, and one in Sariaya, Quezon.
Laurel lamented the status of post-harvest facilities in the country, saying that there have been no major government investments in them for over two decades.
“No major post-harvest facility was funded by the government in the last 40 years; puro maliliit, patingi-tingi which is actually irrelevant or useless, sayang. So, that’s why we need really to fund these projects, but we cannot build small; we have to build bigger,” said Laurel.
(No major post-harvest facility was funded by the government in the last 40 years; it’s always small scale, which is actually irrelevant or useless, wasteful. So, that’s why we really need to fund these projects, but we cannot build small; we have to build bigger.)