The Department of Agriculture has vowed to increase cold storage facilities in the country, including the rehabilitation of the Food Terminal Inc., or FTI, in order to stockpile agricultural produce as a proactive measure against wastage due to increased crop harvests.

A lack of trucks to transport farm harvests led some farmers in northern Luzon to dump leafy vegetables for want of buyers.

“The immediate problem I see is the oversupply from time to time of tomatoes and cabbage,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said during a visit to the FTI complex in Taguig City.

“So we should build storage facilities at FTI immediately. My direction is to build a network for chilled cold storage systems,” he said.

He also urged the corporation to buy farmers’ produce in times of oversupply and distribute this to Kadiwa centers.

“If there is overproduction, instead of throwing it away, FTI should just buy it; we can even put it in the Kadiwa program. The plan is also to strengthen the DA’s Kadiwa program. I plan to return Kadiwa to FTI after two years,” he said.

The FTI is a government-owned and controlled corporation that is engaged in the wholesale distribution of selected commodities to aid food producers and exporters. It also handles the retail of basic food items to the general public at the Kadiwa centers.

More cold storage facilities

The agency plans to construct a chiller warehouse dedicated to vegetables and other high-value crops at FTI, which will also be equipped with a processing plant and trading area.

This facility will prioritize the farmers’ products for buffer stocking, the DA added.

“Half of the warehouse should be allocated to the coil system, half [to the] evaporator type. The evaporator type is for short-term storage of high-value crops. With the coil, because there is no circulating fan, moisture is kept within the storage facility, it will keep things fresh for a longer period,” Laurel said.

With the construction of frozen and chilled cold storage facilities, Laurel said there should be no more worries about post-harvest wastage.

The project will cost ₱500 million and will require one year to complete, said the agency.