BAGUIO CITY – One of five KADIWA centers of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) nationwide has been rolled out in Baguio City as part of the flagship project of the Department of Agriculture in the Cordillera (DA-CAR) through its Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD), in partnership with the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), DA bureaus and attached agencies, and eleven Farmers Cooperative Association (FCA) as suppliers that will serve the communities of the city and nearby municipalities of the Province of Benguet.
In the formal opening of the KADIWA sa BPI in Guisad, Baguio City, DA-CAR OIC-Regional Executive Director Atty. Jennilyn Dawayan emphasizes to the farmers the importance on how to sustain the KADIWA center, and the use of digital technology in marketing the agricultural products being sold.
“We would like to remind our farmer suppliers that to sustain the project, they should ensure that the agricultural products sold at the permanent KADIWA center are safe for our consumers, aside from assuring the regular supply of the agricultural commodities. This will ensure the sustainability of the KADIWA store,” Dawayan said.
In order to help promote the permanent KADIWA store in the city, the Regional Executive Director encouraged the need for farmer suppliers to use the various online digital platforms in marketing their agricultural products.
“One of President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s program is promoting the use of the various digital platforms and in the case of our farmer suppliers, we encourage you to use such platforms to widen the dissemination on the availability of your products being sold at the KADIWA store which will also help sustain its operation through digital inquiries and orders. We will also have to collaborate with other agencies of government in terms of Information Education Campaign for them to be aware of the presence of our permanent KADIWA store,” the Regional Executive Director added.
The establishment of the KADIWA center project aims to support the Marcos administration’s thrust to develop the agriculture sector of the country by supporting local agricultural production, and augmenting the income of local farmers by directly selling their agricultural products to the consumers.
Aside from fruits, vegetables, pastries, meat, fish, and other agricultural products, the KADIWA store which opens Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm also sells well-milled rice at PhP1,125 per sack or PhP45.00 per kilo.
DA-CAR Regional Technical Director for Operations and DA-CAR Bantay Presyo on Rice Task Force Chief Dr. Danilo Daguio added that the availability of well-milled rice in the KADIWA center assures the consuming public of the additional supply of well-milled rice in the city.
