MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) has opened a P29.3-million trading facility in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan, the largest depot for agricultural commodities in the province.
The new Pangasinan Agri-Pinoy Trading Center will enable small framers to sell their produce to traders at competitive prices.
The facility will serve the marketing needs of 4, 800 farmers and fisherfolks in the province and generate around 1,200 jobs.
“This facility will improve the lives of farmers and fisherfolks in Pangasinan and nearby provinces,” said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.
The department will assign a group of agriculture technicians to teach farmers how to produce high-quality farm products and keep quality consistent.
The new trading center in Pangasinan is one of the 10 new trading centers established this year by the government. These are meant to make farmers more entrepreneurial by eliminating several layers of middlemen and stabilize prices of agricultural products in the market.
The Agri-Pinoy Trading center program is a component of the Agri-Pinoy framework for attaining sufficiency in food staples and improving the working conditions of farmers.
The Agri-Pinoy framework, on the whole, aims to make farmers trade-oriented rather than production-oriented alone by introducing them to various parts of the value chain.
The DA is opening 15 more trading centers in 2015.
Also opened in Pangasinan is a new P1.5 million trading post for organic produce where around 70 farmers from Urdaneta, Manaoag and Villasis can showcase their products.