The Planning Component of the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) MIMAROPA conducted a Stakeholders’ Consultation and Writing Workshop for Calamansi and Onion Value Chain Analysis (VCA) Updating in Occidental and Oriental Mindoro.

These separate three-day workshops were participated by the respective members of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG), the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO), and the Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Council (RAFC), along with Municipal Agriculture Officers (MAOs), the Municipal Agriculture and Fisheries Council (MAFC), and the Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Office (LEDIPO). Also present in the activity were representatives from the Royale Cold Storage for Occidental Mindoro onions and KLT Fruits, Inc. for Oriental Mindoro calamansi.

The Writing Workshop for Calamansi VCA Updating, which was held in Calapan on March 22-24, was attended by Subject Matter Experts Mirasol Nilo Gumba and Jayvee Cueto from the Mindoro State University to impart their research findings regarding calamansi pests and diseases. Gumba and Cueto are part of the research team of the DA-PRDP funded “Study on Pest and Diseases of Calamansi: Paving Ways for the Sustainability of Calamansi Industry in Oriental Mindoro”. 

Read related article here: http://prdp.da.gov.ph/reviving-the-calamansi-industry-in-oriental-mindoro-through-technology-in-agriculture/

On the other hand, the Writing Workshop for Onion VCA Updating took place in Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro on March 29-31.

Onion farmers and stakeholders took part in a stakeholders’ consultation and dialogue regarding the status of onion farming in the province. It can be recalled that the farmgate price of red onions dropped from PhP42 to PhP12-15 in the first quarter of 2022. Through DA interventions, several farmer cooperatives were able to sell onions at PhP35 per kilo to institutional buyers in Metro Manila, Palawan, and Quezon Province.

Read related story here: https://mimaropa.da.gov.ph/media-resources/news-and-events/press-release-da-mimaropa-s-interventions-to-onion-growers-in-occidental-mindoro-amidst-low-farm-gate-price

Stakeholders that were present in the consultation include the Watchers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MPC), Lourder MPC, Genaro ARB MPC, TADECO, and several onion traders.

Both activities were headed by RPCO MIMAROPA’s Planning Specialist Timoteo Borromeo, Jr. and Planning Officer Faith Janica Manalo.  (Danica A. Brutas, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)

Planning Specialist Timoteo Borromeo, Jr. (rightmost) and Planning Officer Faith Janica Manalo (leftmost) facilitate the review of the calamansi VCA and compliance to NPCO comments and suggestions. (Photo by DjonaFaith Castro, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO Admin Unit)

A representative from the Royal Cold Storage introduced their services to Occidental Mindoro onion farmers during the Stakeholders’ Consultation. (Photo by DjonaFaith Castro, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO Admin Unit)

Participants of the Stakeholders’ Consultation and Writing Workshop for Calamansi VCA held in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro. (Photo by DjonaFaith Castro, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO Admin Unit)

Planning Officer Faith Janica Manalo offers a quick refresher on the VCA to guide the writing workshop of the VCA updating. (Photo by DjonaFaith Castro, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO Admin Unit)