Private sector to the rescue

Instead of increasing food production, which seems to have become a pipe dream, maybe our government should start focusing on cutting post-harvest losses in order for the country to attain food self-sufficiency.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), post-harvest losses cost Filipino farmers billions of pesos every year. In fact, up to half of the loss of root crops and grains is due to bad management after harvest, it said.

A recent newspaper article pointed out that this issue is especially serious in a country where agriculture is one of the primary means of subsistence for many families. It noted that inadequate post-harvest management results in a significant decrease in the quality and quantity of produce, which has a negative impact on the income of farmers and their families.

The same article explained that lack of infrastructure and technologies for preserving and storing agricultural products is the root cause of post-harvest losses, with insufficient storage facilities, lack of refrigeration systems, and inadequate transportation networks all contributing to the issue.

Just recently, President Marcos ordered the setting up of cold storage facilities at various fish ports across the country to reduce post-harvest losses, especially after the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources revealed that fish spoilage is between 25 to 40 percent due to lack of facilities like cold storage warehouses.

A study funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also revealed that mango produced in Iloilo and traded in Manila showed the highest post-harvest losses at 33.9 percent while the Pangasinan-Manila route ranked second at 30.85 percent. The Guimaras-Negros Occidental route ranked third at 19.02 percent.

For onions, total post-harvest loss of freshly harvested onions from the farm in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija to the final market in Divisoria, Manila was at 45.06 percent. The estimated volume of post-harvest losses for red onion reached a value of close to P1.96 billion. And to think that we have been importing red onions to fill in the supply-demand gap.

The ADB study said to reduce post-harvest losses in mangoes, onions and tomatoes, there is a need to invest in cold storage and packing facilities, among others.

It is good that the private sector is coming to the rescue.

Last week, the Czark Mac Corp. (CZM) Group of Companies unveiled its P350-million state-of-the-art cold storage facility and ice plant in Murcia, Negros Occidental. It will serve not only the needs of agricultural and other producers in Murcia but also nearby areas in the province such as Bacolod, Bago, Talisay, Silay, Don Salvador Benedicto, among others.

The construction of the cold storage facility is expected to be completed this month, with start of commercial operation scheduled for the third week of July. It will have a capacity of 1,728 pallet positions, with five frozen rooms, two chiller rooms and two blast freezing rooms. The facility, which has been approved by the Board of Investment (BOI) for non-pioneer status registration, offers services that include storage rental, warehouse management, blasting services, and handling and logistics services and will cater to products such as dairy, vegetables, fruits, fishery and poultry.

The Sapporo facility provides both cold storage solutions for blasting and freezing. In addition, it has chillers for agricultural products not required to be stored below zero degree Celsius. The manufacturing activity of Sapporo will supply crystallized tube ice and crushed ice not only to restaurants but also agro-industrial companies engaged in poultry and fisheries.

CZM currently operates a cold storage facility and ice plant in Guiguinto, Bulacan through its unit Acro Ice as well as an ice plant and soon, cold storage in Batangas under another unit, The Service Warehouse.

CZM chairman and president Caesar Wongchuking explained that they have always identified Negros as one of their preferred areas of investments for the company’s cold chain portolio since the region is heavy in agriculture and identified by the current administration as one of the key growth areas.

Sapporo Ice and Cold Storage Co. Inc., he said, is gearing toward Triple  A classification from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) with its modern facilities and equipment, the same used by its sister company Nordic Atlantic Logistics Inc. which was awarded a Double A classification on its initial operation and is expected to achieve Triple A status upon next inspection.

He noted that their cold storage facility will play a vital role in the preservation of the harvest at the farmer’s level, adding that their Murcia facility is strategically located to cater to the farmers in the area and will provide solutions in improving efficiencies and decreasing wastages of the crops.

The CZM Group and its associates are present in Iloilo, Murcia, Malolos in Bulacan and Batangas City for its cold chain business, but they already looking at future sites in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Tuguegarao.

During the facility’s inauguration last July 1, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said in an interview that this cold storage facility can help improve the productivity and incomes of farmers and livestock raisers and reduce their dependence on middlemen.

He pointed out that the provincial government can help farmers’ associations and cooperatives to this facility where they can store their produce for longer periods of time instead of selling their harvests directly to middlemen at lower prices to reduce the risk of spoilage.

For his part, Murcia Mayor Victor Gerardo Rojas emphasized that the Sapporo cold storage facility is expected to contribute greatly to the economy of the municipality as well as nearby towns since it can serve as an anchor that can attract business locators, especially those that will be needing the services of the facility.

Rojas added that the ice that will be produced by Sapporo’s ice plant will definitely be clean and quality ice considering that even before it is filtered in the plant, the water that will be used is already clean as it comes from natural springs. He said that in fact, the water being supplied by the Murcia water district to residential and commercial users does not even have to be filtered since it directly comes from the natural spring.

Also present during the inauguration is Quirino Gov. Dakila Carlo Cua, national president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) and national chairman of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, explained that this new facility established by CZM without a single centavo from the government is very important since it will help boost the income of farmers whose produce can have extended shelf life.

Cua emphasized that the future is really about logistics, even as he noted that the problem of huge post-harvest losses of the agricultural sector due to, among others, lack of adequate cold storage facilities, is something that should be addressed in order to make Philippines products competitive vis-à-vis its neighbors in the region like Vietnam, which is far ahead in terms of agricultural production.

For comments, e-mail at [email protected]