FIVE municipalities of Benguet have been selected as part of pilot areas for the “Market Driven Enhancement of Vegetable Value Chain-Technical Cooperation Project” (MV2C-TCP) between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Leonora Verzola, senior agriculturist of the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera (DA-CAR) Agri-business and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD), said vegetable growers in La Trinidad, Buguias, Atok, Kibungan and Mankayan would be trained in the best technologies and cultivation techniques that would help increase their productivity.
“The five selected municipalities will undergo training on the Improvement of cultivation techniques, Cold chain utilization, Improvement of packaging and transportation, Promoting trade with modern distribution, and the Improvement of agro-processing,” Verzola said.
The MV2C is a partnership program between the DA and the JICA and is intended to address food price fluctuations due to oversupply, undersupply, inefficient distribution system and high post-harvest losses. It is also intended to provide better economic opportunities and income to farmers and members of the agricultural sector.
Under the initiative, experts from Japan will be dispatched to the Philippines to provide technical expertise and know-how for modernized FVCs. Initial FVC projects under the initiative included skills training for establishing diversified harvest and farm plans, with other projects aimed at boosting the distribution and processing of crops.
If successful, the JICA is poised to replicate the three pilot FVC projects as models for more FVCs across the country.
