Farmers, fisherfolk sold P5 billion worth of produce amid COVID-19 pandemic

Farmers from Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, and other provinces have sold over P5 billion worth of their produce to consumers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Agriculture Secretary Willam Dar said Thursday.

Dar made the announcement during the Senate Committee of the Whole inquiry on the government's COVID-19 response.

Dar presented DA records showing that P5.48 billion worth of produce of farmers and fisherfolk were sold to consumers, with the bulk of the amount or P2.9 billion from Kadiwa ni Ani At Kita which is the direct marketing program of the Department of Agriculture.

Another P2.24 billion worth of produce were procured by local government units nationwide, while the rest of the amount were sold under Kadiwa’s retail selling, Kita on Wheels, Kita Express, Kita Online and Kita Isda on the Go.

As a result, 970,747 households in the National Capital Region benefited from the initiative participated in by 441 agri-fishery cooperatives and 14,864 farmer beneficiaries.

Likewise, Dar assured that the country can produce enough supply of rice, corn, fisheries, pork, chicken and vegetables by the end of the year even amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Dar said that the corn and chicken suppy is "highly sufficient," while the supply of rice, fisheries, pork and vegetables is marginally sufficient.

Dar, however, conceded that local production of garlic and onion will not be enough with expected shortage of 50% and 96%, respectively.

“With these, we will have to import,” Dar said. —LDF, GMA News