Miarayon, Talakag, Bukidnon – Straight from the groundbreaking rites of a mega-hog breeding facility in Mati City on Friday, I led the team of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) in a 6-hour trip to the highlands of Bukidnon passing through the mountains of Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
Our mission: Finalize the marketing deal between the vegetable farmers of Bukidnon and a group representing a chain of organic vegetable outlets in Metro Manila and Luzon.
The meeting took place Saturday with a simple lunch in a bamboo hut in Miarayon, Talakag (elevation: 1,400-MASL) which consisted of Pandawan dried fish (bought in Mati City the day before), fried eggs and freshly harvested vegetables with sardines.
The participants included Renato “Atong” dela Cruz, a director of the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB) and his wife representing the buyers, a representative from a Taiwanese seed company and the farmers led by Talaandig tribal leader and young farmer Ryan Danio.
The meeting which I personally facilitated was a simple and straight-forward meeting and the participants agreed on the following:
1. The Metro Manila Organic Vegetable buyers represented by Atong will buy assorted vegetables which will be itemized according to the volume of each item with an initial order of 16-tons weekly at agreed prices higher than the prevailing buying price;
2. The vegetables will be packed at farm gate and picked up by a reefer van which will be towed by a tractor head to the Cagayan de Oro City port for an overnight boat ride to Luzon;
3. Atong’s group will supply the organic inputs needed by the farmers, including seeds of vegetables specified by the buyers, the cost of which will be deducted after harvest;
4. The farmers’ group agreed to farm out the needed volume to as many farmers so that many will benefit from the program and schedule the planting and harvesting to be able to sustain the supply requirements;
5. The farmers agreed to apply for Organic Vegetable Accreditation with an acknolwedged accreditation body, the Control Union, and abide by all protocols sete for organic vegetable farming;
6. The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) agreed to assist the farmers’ group in accessing an initial revolving production fund of about P2-M from either government financing institutions or credit cooperatives;
7. The first delivery of the vegetables will start June this year.
Atong dela Cruz said additional volume may be needed before the end of the year.
At the end of the meeting, we all joined hands and thanked God for the successful engagement.
For MinDA, yesterday’s meeting was the highlight of a year-long effort started last year with the staging of the Mindanao Vegetable Derby which transferred technology to the farmers and introduced modern farming methods and outstanding seeds.
Yesterday’s marketing agreement was also a personal triumph for me as an advocate of the Complete Value Chain concept in agriculture where the farmers get the full value of their labor, sacrifices and investments through direct access to the market.
Even when I resigned as Agriculture Secretary in 2019 to move to MinDA, I pursued this advocacy and yesterday I saw the fruits of the persevering effort.
God is great!
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
(Video footage was taken by Mayette Tudlas, MinDA OC)
https://fb.watch/asXQzC2EnQ/
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