MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture and the provincial government of Quezon have unveiled a P100-million agricultural trading post that will enable farmers to directly sell high-value crops without the need to go through the middlemen.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar and Quezon Second District Rep. David Suarez led the groundbreaking of the Sariaya Agricultural Trading Center and Facilities (SATCF) in Sampaloc 2, Sariaya recently.
The construction of the SATCF, which also aims to make Sariaya an emerging agricultural gateway in Southern Luzon, will start early next year, officials said.
“It is important for us to have this trading post and provide extension services to our farmers. We want to make sure that they will earn more. We will also increase their income through the extension of technologies, inputs, provisions, and other assistance,” Suarez said.
“Our buyers will not just come from Southern Luzon, but also from Manila, Calabarzon, Benguet and other provinces,” he said.
He stressed that the provincial government’s strategy is helpful to also cushion the effects of Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses on farmers whose crops were wiped out.
The SATCF is strategically positioned to be the food hub of Southern Luzon because of connecting networks such as the newly-constructed 13.9 kilometer concrete road of four barangays in Sariaya made possible by the Philippine Rural Development Project.
Suarez, the vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations, likewise underscored the need to make a career in agriculture attractive to young people, as the average farmer is getting older.
The farmers who will immediately benefit from the project, more than 80 percent of them, are within the 40 to 60 age range, he said.
“Food security is needed to secure the present, but we need younger farmers to ensure our future. This trading post is a part of the bigger picture, because our real goal in providing opportunities and concrete programs is to return the dignity of our agricultural workers.”
“We want young people to see it as a fruitful career. That will only happen if they see massive government assistance in the development of agriculture, and when they see farming as an industry where they can find success and wealth,” Suarez said.