The Ilocos Norte Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) convened tomato and mungbean farmers, traders and processors in a Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) Stakeholders’ Consultation at the Ilocos Provincial Capitol last July 13, 2016

The PCIP is a listing of the commodity industry’s gaps, constraints, opportunities and possible interventions, based on a commodity value chain analysis report. Under the Philippine Rural Development Project, it is required that the PCIP be reviewed by commodity stakeholders such as farmers, traders and processors to ensure that the listing will address their problems.

Among the constraints highlighted by the farmers during the consultation are: lack of capital or financial assistance; training on irrigation and water saving technologies; lack of supply of processing tomatoes in several months of the year; low Good Agricultural Practice Adoption; and, establishment of a quality storage facility.

The representatives of the Northern Foods Corporation (NFC), a tomato processing plant in Ilocos Norte producing 4,500 MT of tomato paste per processing season (February to May), agreed that tomato farmers must have access to financial institutions. The NFC increases its processing production requirement every year since the Philippines requirement for tomato paste is 20,000 MT per annum. They also mentioned that farmers can venture into table tomatoes, which yields more profit over processing tomatoes.

Meanwhile, Regional Project Coordination Office 1 (RPCO1)-Investments on Rural Enterprises and Agri-fishery Productivity (IREAP) Head Ma. Christine E. de Leon also committed to aid in securing a processing market for mungbean farmers in the Province of Ilocos Norte. The Ilocos Norte mungbean farmers said that they usually sell their produce in local markets and committed to produce more mungbean given that they can deliver it to a bigger market.

In addition, the mungbean farmers of Ilocos Norte also pursued for the establishment of an organization to produce Certified Seeds for mungbean to yield more produce.

The output of the consultation meeting with farmers will be consolidated by the Ilocos Norte Investments on AFMP Planning at the Local and National levels (IPLAN) to be submitted to the Regional Project Coordination Office 1 (RPCO1), Luzon A Project Support Office (PSO) and the National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) for review and evaluation. (Ilocos InfoACE)