DA plans more food corridors under ‘White Revolution’

The Department of Agriculture (DA) over the weekend announced plans for a “White Revolution” or an agricultural transformation roadmap that includes the establishment of new food corridors — with greenhouses and refrigerated storage — close to urban markets.

According to the DA, the White Revolution will involve the construction of food corridors that will also have post-harvest systems, allowing farmers to grow crops and extend their shelf life and minimize spoilage, in efforts to reduce price volatility and ease inflationary pressures.

Procurement for infrastructure and equipment is expected to start late this year, with the first food corridors set to be operational by the second half of 2026.

“We cannot afford to rely on good weather anymore. Protected cultivation is no longer optional — it’s a necessity,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement released Sunday.

The DA said the plan will leverage best management practices, adopt appropriate technologies, and strengthen social networks to ensure sustainability and scalability.

The ‘White Revolution’ is said to be inspired by the white plastic films used in greenhouses, mulch, and technologies that transformed vegetable farming in South Korea between the 1970s and the 1990s.

Moving forward, DA Undersecretary Cheryl Marie Caballero has ordered a full inventory of all existing greenhouses under the past DA programs, to identify which facilities can be rehabilitated.

Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that the country’s agriculture and fisheries production grew by 5.7% in the second quarter, valued at P437.53 billion versus the P414.04 billion in the comparable period of 2024. —LDF, GMA Integrated News