Thursday, March 13, 2008 Town to set up strawberry processing center By Jane Cadalig
TO HELP strawberry processors in La Trinidad enter the high end markets, the local government is eyeing the establishment of a toll packing and processing facility for strawberry products.
Municipal Agriculturist Felicitas Ticbaen said the proposed facility will help the town's small and medium entrepreneurs sell their products to high end markets.
While several households are engaged in strawberry processing, Ticbaen said they could not bring their products to the high end markets as they are not accredited by the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD).
This is due to their failure to comply with the requirement, which processed products should when produced in separate processing facilities and not in homes, as the strawberry processors in the town do.
Ticbaen said the establishment of the toll packing and processing facility, which will be the one to be accredited by the BFAD, will address the problem.
The project, worth P12 million, was proposed to the Department of Agriculture under the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
Farmers and processors who want to reach the high end markets could bring their products to the facility, where these will be processed, packed and labeled in compliance with the BFAD standards.
Those who avail of the facility will be paying fees for the service.
Ticbaen said the project will benefit about 750 direct households in the town and 250 others from the nearby municipalities.
Also, around 550 small and medium enterprises and processors will benefit from the project.
