Friday, October 13, 2006 Benguet elders ask for reefer trucks for 13 towns
THE move to complete the link of the Benguet Cold Chain project got a boost following a proposal to provide each municipality with refrigerated trucks for use in the delivery of agricultural crops from the farms to the market.
Members of the Benguet Senior Citizens (BSC), who sat as officials for a day, passed a resolution asking the Provincial Government to allot funds for the purchase of reefers vans for the towns. They said refrigerated trucks are much needed by the farmers to preserve the freshness of their crops and maintain their quality upon reaching the end markets.
The proposal supports the move of the Bureau of Post-harvest Research and Extension (BPRE) of the agriculture department for the provision of additional reefer trucks to complete the cold chain link.
The Benguet cold storage was made operational last year but was claimed to be losing as minimal number of farmers patronize the facility.
BPRE Executive Director Ricardo Cachuela earlier said one of the factors for the low usage of the cold storage is the lack of other important components of the facility, including an established market where farmers using the cold storage facility could deliver their crops.
Agricultural commodities transported through the cold chain should also have a market that has the cold storage facility to maintain the freshness of the products and deliver quality crops to end consumers. (JC)
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