DA allots P21M for post-harvest facilities

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture-Philippine Center for Post-harvest Development and Mechanization (DA-PhilMech) is allocating P21 million for the construction of 18 post-harvest facilities in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Mindoro Oriental, Mindoro Occidental, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.

Under proper storage conditions with the right temperature, onions can be stored from six to eight months, thus, helping farmers sell their produce at better prices.

The project is under the DA-High Value Crops Development Program (DA-HVCDP), one of the priority projects of Agriculture Secretrary Proceso J. Alcala.

DA-PhilMech executive director Ricardo L. Cachuela said the four provinces are major producers of onion, and are beside or nearby areas that also produce the crop in abundance.

“While onion farmers can produce the crop in abundance, post-harvest losses on onions range from 15 percent to 25 percent which lessen the earnings of farmers. On top of that, farmers lose their bargaining power to sell their onions at a higher price if their onions are not stored properly,” Cachuela said.

The onion storage facility, also called “hanger storage”, holds loosely stored onions in bulk or bags in a shed structure with good ambient air circulation with cool and dry storage conditions.

Too much heat or moisture can shorten the shelf life of onions.

The onion hanger facility is a two-story structure that costs P1 million to P1.5 million each.

Each facility can store 2,000 to 3,000 bags of onions.

Based on the survey of PhilMech, onions are among the agricultural commodities that are stored in the country’s cold chain system along with lettuce, broccoli, meat and tuna.

PhilMech is finalizing the financial plan for the onion storage facilities, with the aim of tapping the cooperation of farmer cooperatives, private sector and local governments, among others.

“While government can shoulder the establishment of the onion storage facilities, the participation of the private sector, LGUs and farmer organizations will help in establishing more of the facilities,” Cachuela said.