DA eyes more FTI cold storage to fix post-harvest losses, oversupply

FILE: Customers have several fresh vegetables to choose from at the Kadiwa store of Vista Real Classica Subdivision in Barangay Batasan, Quezon City on Saturday (Jan. 14, 2023). (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

MANILA – Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr. is planning to build more cold storage facilities at a food terminal in Taguig City to address overproduction and minimize post-harvest losses of agricultural products, particularly vegetables and other high-value crops.

In a news release on Monday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported that Tiu-Laurel had a briefing with officials of the Food Terminal, Inc. (FTI) in Taguig City.

The FTI is a government firm under the DA which is focused on food processing and distribution.

“Ang immediate problem na nakikita ko ay iyong (The immediate problem that I see is the) oversupply from time to time of tomatoes and cabbage,” he said. “Kaya dapat magtayo tayo agad ng storage sa FTI. Ang direction ko (So, we need to establish a storage at FTI. My direction) is to build a network for chilled cold storage systems.”

Tiu-Laurel also instructed FTI officials to purchase excess produce of farmers and supply them to Kadiwa centers.

Last week, news reports showed tons of cabbages were thrown off a ravine or left at side streets by farmers in Benguet as they are starting to rot before they could be sold to markets.

“Kung may overproduction, kaysa itapon, bilhin na lang ng FTI, mailalagay pa natin iyan sa (If there is overproduction, instead of throwing them away, FTI buys them and places them in the) Kadiwa program,” Tui-Laurel said.

The DA plans to strengthen the Kadiwa Program and to centralize all agriculture logistics management matters, including FTI, to the soon-to-be-formed Logistics Office of the department.

“Plano kong ibalik sa FTI ang (I plan to bring back to FTI the) Kadiwa after two years,” he added.

“Lahat ng cold storage ng DA, ililipat ko lahat sa (I will transfer all DA’s cold storage to the) logistics office, which will conduct research and inventory of all facilities within the Philippines to ensure synchronization.”

Tiu-Laurel also plans to construct a chiller warehouse dedicated to vegetables and other high-value crops at a 1.3-hectare section of the sprawling government property in Taguig City.

The facility will also be equipped with a processing plant and trading area, and will prioritize farmers’ produce for buffer stocking.

The project will cost PHP500 million and would require 12 months to complete.

He said half of the warehouse should be allocated to the coil system while the other half should be for the evaporator type.

“The evaporator type is for short-term storage of high-value crops. Iyong (The) coil, because there is no circulating fan, moisture is kept within the storage, it will keep things fresh for a longer period,” Tiu-Laurel said.

The country will unlikely to worry with post-harvest wastage with the two types of cold storage facilities under the plan — frozen and chilled, he added.

He said private companies construct new frozen storage systems every year due to their profitability.