FOOD HUB PLANNED. The 138,000-bag capacity National Food Authority warehouse in Tabuk City, Kalinga in this undated photo. DA-CAR and the Kalinga provincial government plan to establish a food hub on a 50-hectare property in Rizal town, including a modern rice warehouse with a silo that can store palay for a year without molds or insects. (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
The Department of Agriculture-Cordillera (DA-CAR) and the provincial government of Kalinga have started planning the establishment of a food hub on a 50-hectare property in Rizal town, which will include a modern rice warehouse with a silo and mechanical dryer, Gov. James Edduba said Thursday.
“We will be able to complete the payment this year from the final allocation approved by the provincial board in the annual budget of the province for 2026,” Edduba said, noting that the provincial government began buying the property in 2023 with contributions from board members’ funds, the governor’s office and the annual investment fund.
The governor said the province has already started using the property for an animal breeding station.
“The land area is big, so we can have our food stored there aside from processing. We can also put up commercial structures where food trading can be done,” he said.
The food hub plan follows Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel’s visit on May 22, where he approved the setting up of an additional National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in Rizal. Edduba said provincial officials and farmers had raised the issue of the NFA halting rice purchases from Kalinga farmers due to lack of storage facilities.
“Kalinga produce is not a priority for the NFA warehouse, which is under the management of the Cagayan NFA branch; that is why we asked that a separate facility with separate funds and manpower be set up for Kalinga so that our produce will be bought by NFA,” he added.
The current NFA warehouse in Kalinga, located in Tabuk City, has a capacity of 138,000 bags and also serves Region 2. It currently buys rice at PHP26 to PHP28 per kilo but has temporarily stopped purchasing due to lack of space.
The new rice warehouse will feature a silo that can store palay for a year without issues of mold and insect infestation and a mechanical dryer to ensure farmers’ produce is not bought at low prices due to insufficient dryness.
The province has PHP30 million available for site development to ensure readiness once DA proceeds with the food hub establishment. (PNA)