PH farmers sell P1.6-B worth of agri products for coronavirus relief of LGUs

MANILA, Philippines – Farmers around the country sold P1.6 billion worth of agricultural products to local government units (LGUs) that opted to distribute relief packs that included healthy alternatives to the usual canned goods. 

Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar on Thursday, May 7, said as many as 245 LGUs purchased P1.58 billion worth of farmers’ yield – palay, milled rice, corn, vegetables, fruits, pork, chicken, fish, and spices – in the past two months. 

He said these sales were reported by the DA’s regional field offices. 

Dar said the department formed 4 food value chain clusters around the country to strengthen linkages between food producers and the markets – Luzon A for CAR and regions 1 to 3; Luzon B for regions 4A, 4B, and 5; Visayas for regions 6 to 8; and Mindanao for regions 9 to 13.

The clusters, along with the LGUs and other government agencies, were tasked to identify prime agri-fishery commodities and potential markets among others to develop location-specific resiliency plans aimed at attaining higher levels of food sufficiency.

“It is the DA’s job to ensure enough supply of food in the country. Our LGUs can count on us to link them to our food producers, while they help us market farmers’ produce and provide every household adequate and affordable food,” said Dar. – Rappler.com