AGRI solon wants House to tackle bill on post-harvest facilities

| PHOTO: Office of Agri party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee

MANILA, Philippines — A party-list lawmaker has called on the House of Representatives to tackle the bill, which will “compel” the government to construct more post-harvest facilities in the country.

According to AGRI Rep. Wilbert Lee, House Bill No. 3958 or the proposed “Post-Harvest Facilities Support Act” will help curb the wastage of agricultural goods due to lack of post-harvest services.

Post-harvest facilities include cold storages, dryers, and means of transportation for agricultural products.

In previous deliberations, Lee has pointed out that not enough produce reaches the markets due to high post-harvest losses.

“Nakapanlulumo yung ilang beses na nating nababalitaan na kung hindi man sinisira na lang ng mga magsasaka ang kanilang produkto, ay bumibiyahe pa sila nang napakalayo at ibinebenta na lang ang ani nang palugi kesa mabulok,” the lawmaker said in a statement on Sunday.

(It’s depressing how many times we’ve heard that farmers either destroy their produce or travel far and sell the produce at a discount just to prevent them from rotting.)

Lee likewise said that he has repeatedly called on the Department of Agriculture (DA) to allocate more budget to post-harvest facilities amid the recurring problems of farmers on this phase of the production chain.

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“Ang suporta ng gobyerno, hindi dapat natatapos sa pagtatanim, dapat tuloy-tuloy ito hanggang sa anihan at paghahatid ng produkto sa merkado at mga consumers,” Lee stressed.

(The government’s support should not should not end at planting, it should be consistent until harvesting and delivering the products to the market and consumers.)

Previously, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said that around 12.7 percent to 15 percent of rice production is lost due to lack of post-harvest facilities.

He further said that a total of P93 billion is needed to build post-harvest facilities and prevent wasting key agricultural goods.