DA: P40-M vegetable packaging, processing facility to rise in Benguet

A P40-million vegetable packaging and processing facility will be constructed inside the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC) in La Trinidad, Benguet, the Department of Agriculture said Wednesday.

In a statement, the DA said Agriculture Secretary William Dar led the groundbreaking for the facility on December 22, 2020.

"The rationale of having this food processing facility, ayaw natin na mangyari muli na iyong excess ay matatapon lang. We still want to convert to value-added products," said Dar.

The Agriculture chief said that through the facility, unsold or wasted vegetables, especially at times of low prices, will be absorbed.

DA-Cordillera Administrative Region OIC-Regional Executive Director Cameron Odsey said the facility will complement the DA-funded P20-million processing facility in Benguet State University (BSU).

“The processing facility at BAPTC will focus on the initial processing activities such as washing and trimming while the more complicated processing activities such as juicing is for the BSU processing facility to work on,” Odsey said.

Dar urged the region to use the packaging facility and promote it for value addition.

“One objective would be to have a packaging innovation unit that would continue to promote and introduce packaging materials that are relevant in showcasing new technology and show it to the people,” the Agriculture chef said.

The processing aspect would focus on the ready-to-cook vegetables which are accordingly, common to Western countries, he said.

The BAPTC was also given a P40-million seed capital to be downloaded to the BSU as its fund manager.

The capital will be used to purchase unsold vegetables that were traded in the Center at the end of the day to prevent possible wastage and income losses, especially to the farmers, according to the DA. — Ted Cordero/BM, GMA News