Luzon A Project Support Office (PSO)-hired Value Chain Analysis (VCA) consultants Marian Boquiren and Ivan Idrovo conducted a survey in Ilocos Region on November 4-6, 2015 with tomato, mungbean and bangus farmers as key informants.

Data gathered through the survey will serve as baseline information for drafting the Value Chain Analysis for said commodities.

Tomato, mungbean and bangus are among the additional prioritized commodities under the Investments in AFMP Planning at the Local and National Levels (IPLAN) Component of the Regional Project Coordination Office 1 (RPCO1) of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

The bangus (milkfish) industry of the Ilocos Region is concentrated in Pangasinan. The VCA consultants interviewed bangus growers from Dagupan City, Binamaley and Sual. Dagupan City is the trading center of bangus products, where various processed bangus products can be found.

Meanwhile, the biggest growers of bangus were located in the municipalities of Binmaley and Sual. According to the interviewees, water quality greatly affects the production of bangus in the province. They blamed the deterioration of water quality to river silting, increased climate temperature and improperly maintained fish cages.

For the tomato industry in Ilocos Region, the VCA consultants were impressed with the commodity’s potential. The Northern Foods Corporation (NFC) is an operational and profitable tomato processing plant in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. NFC has developed a supply scheme with 2,000 tomato farmers in Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte to meet its 500 ton requirement per day. The company supplies tomato paste to Jollibee, Ramfoods, and other major food establishments.

As for mungbean in the Ilocos Region, most farmers only plant for their own consumption. However, Ilocos Region is still among the country’s top producer of mungbean.

The PRDP uses the VCA approach to ascertain a commodity industry’s gaps, constraints and opportunities. The VCA is also the basis of the provincial governments in crafting the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP).

After the Key Informant Interviews (KII), the VCA consultants with the cluster and regional coordination offices have verified all data gathered in a stakeholders consultation held on the last week of November. (Ilocos InfoACE)

VCA Consultants Marian Boquiren (extreme left) and Ivan Idrovo (second from left) tours the Northern Foods Corporation Tomato Processing Plant in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte with the Operations Manager (second from right) and Ilocos Norte Provincial Agriculturist Norma Lagmay (extreme right).