Top onion-producing municipality breaks ground for cold storage subproject
Dubbed as the “Onion Capital of the Philippines”, the town of Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, led by Mayor Ricardo I. Padilla, held the groundbreaking ceremony for their PHP210-M onion cold storage from the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP), in Brgy. Curva on August 16, 2022.
According to the 2019 data of the DA’s High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP), this 2nd class municipality was the leading onion producer in the country with over 26,000 metric tons or 11% of the country’s onion production. This cold storage facility will be able to accommodate 120,000 27-kg bags of onions and benefit over 700 small farmers.
This subproject primarily aims to increase the income of onion growers in the municipality by providing easy access to the cold storage facility with an inexpensive fee. It is also expected to increase the number of farmers with access to a cold storage facility up to 29%.
“Our responsibility and dreams will not be finished once the construction has been completed; we should exert more effort to achieve our underlying objectives that will help increase the income of our farmers.”, said the PRDP National Project Coordination Office (NPCO) I-BUILD Alternate Component Head Engr. Roy Abaya during his talk in the ceremony.
Other attendees in the ceremony were PRDP Regional Project Coordination Office 3 (RPCO 3) Project Director Dr. Eduardo Lapuz Jr. and staff, Municipal Vice Mayor Christian Binuya and the Sagunniang Bayan Members, farmer cooperatives and associations, LGU officials, and other stakeholders.
Implemented under the I-BUILD component, the DA-PRDP funded 80% of the subproject’s total cost while the regular DA program and the Bongabon LGU each funded 10% and the construction contract was awarded to ARN Builders. (Ram Bill Bautista, InfoACE RPCO3)
Engr. Abaya imparts words of encouragement to the farmers and stakeholders of the cold storage subproject.
Bongabon Mayor Ricardo Padilla, NPCO I-BUILD Component Alternate Head Engr. Roy Abaya, and RPCO 3 Project Director Dr. Eduardo Lapuz Jr. pose with RPCO 3 staff, LGU officials, and cooperative beneficiaries.
(From left to right) Mayor Padilla (, Vice Mayor Christian Binuya, Engr. Abaya, and Dr. Lapuz lead the groundbreaking ceremony.
