CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Farmers in Nueva Ecija will soon be able to benefit from a P190-million cold storage facility, which is set to be constructed in Barangay Caballero in Palayan City.
Representatives of the Department of Agriculture (DA) led the groundbreaking ceremony of the facility, which will rise on a 2,422-square-meter lot donated by Kasamne to the City Government.
Those who attended the groundbreaking were undersecretary for operations and national project director of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Engr. Ariel T. Cayanan, DA Regional Director Crispulo G. Bautista Jr. together with PRDP Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO)-Central Luzon Action Officer Gil G. David and Palayan City Mayor Adrianne Mae J. Cuevas.
In a brief speech, David said that due to the lack of storage facilities, farmers are often forced to market their produce at a low price, but with the construction of the cold storage, it will enable farmers to store their produce in safe custody and obtain a good price.
David also encouraged the beneficiaries and local authorities to value and uphold proper maintenance to the facility upon its completion, adding how challenging it is to avail themselves of a vast project with a huge allocated budget to the PRDP.
Meanwhile, Cuevas expressed her gratitude to the PRDP and the local authorities for the efforts and assistance that helped execute the project to aid in delivering quality services to its constituents.
The construction of the facility is shouldered jointly by the World Bank, the Government of the Philippines and the City Government of Palayan.
The construction will be closely monitored by the PRDP I-Build Component supervised by Rural Infrastructure Engineer Bon Alexis Guatato and is expected to be operational by 2020 with an initial 120,000 bags capacity.
Also present during the event are Geomapping and Governance Unit Specialist Vladimir Puno, local executives, representatives from partner agencies and farm cooperatives.