The Department of Agriculture (DA) is aiming to establish more agricultural infrastructure in the country in collaboration with the South Korean government.

DA Undersecretary Jerome V. Oliveros revealed on Friday that some agri-officials are leaving in September for an agri-mission in South Korea led by DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

“We are arranging a high-level meeting with the big businesses in Korea. We wanted to see a plant in Korea that builds the bridges,” he said, citing that the Department of Agrarian Reform and the DA's Official Development Assistance currently have programs on building more farm-to-market roads (FMR) and bridges for about 350 locations nationwide.

“Because there's a disconnect. The farmers, after they built the farm-to-market roads, a lot of them don't have bridges. So they cannot bring in their goods either,” he noted.

Besides FMR and bridges, DA also aims to establish more greenhouses, as these result in over 30 percent higher yields compared to normal farming.

“We're working on a lot of collaboration with the Korean government, and we already submitted our concept note. These are more on post-harvest facilities, solar water irrigation, and cold storage facilities. Those are the main targets of our administration now,” Oliveros added.