The newly completed P33.5-million cold storage facility in Sarrat is expected to boost the tomato industry in Ilocos Norte.
Deputy Project Director Dennis Tactac said that the first of its kind facility in Region 1 (Ilocos Region) funded by the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) under the Department of Agriculture (DA), was turned over to the San Joaquin Multipurpose Cooperative (SJMPC) in Sarrat on July 29.
Tactac said the facility will also be a showcase for other funding institutions, as well as farmers’ cooperatives and associations, on benchmarking for similar projects in the future.
The new P33.5-million cold storage facility in Sarrat that can boost the tomato industry in Ilocos Norte. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
“We have patiently waited for this for one year and finally it was inaugurated and turned over to SJMPC,” said DA Region 1 Executive Director Annie Bares.
Bares added that with proper coordination and management, the cooperative can succeed in handling the facility with its more than 7,000 members. The cold storage facility has a capacity of over 100 metric tons.
The turnover of the facility comes with a trading capital amounting to P1 million and 512 plastic crates to support the cooperative’s marketing activities.
On the viability of the project, 50 contract grower-members of SJMPC are expected to realize a 212-percent increase in annual income over two planting seasons.
Sarrat Mayor Remigio Medrano said they have been encouraging farmers to go into tomato cultivation.
“We have been clustering the agricultural sector to encourage them to plant more tomatoes, otherwise the capacity of the facility is not maximized,” he said.
Medrano said that the local government of Sarrat, together with DA Region 1, PRDP and the Ilocos Norte provincial government, will continue to monitor and support the operations of SJMPC.
“The commodity (tomato) also has a shelf life. We cannot store the commodity for more than two months if it cannot last for that long,” Medrano said.
“It would be ideal if the control system of the refrigeration system of the cold storage functions in accordance with the type of commodity that will be put inside the facility,” he added.
Ilocos Norte Gov. Matthew Joseph Manotoc said that the cold storage facility is not just the sole long-term solution for tomato farmers in the province.
“What is important is the marketing of the product and before we plant, we should already know who will buy and as well as the price,” Manotoc said.
The governor said farmers in Ilocos Norte, including SJMPC members, should be market-driven “so that our farmers and cooperatives will earn more.”
“Let’s make sure that this will succeed and become something that we can be proud of and ultimately, provide a significant benefit to our farmers. This will be something we can benchmark and replicate across the province,” Manotoc said.
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