As a result of the Department of Agriculture Cordillera’s (DA-CAR) initiative to help strengthen the market linkage of farmers to prospective institutional buyers or markets, tomato farmers of Ifugao have recently initiated the second round of delivery of 8.9 tons of tomatoes produced in the province for a sardine processor in Bulacan.
The delivery is in line with Tosen Food Incorporated’s earlier agreement of purchasing 40 MT of tomatoes every month from the tomato-producing municipalities of Hungduan, Hingyon, and Asipulo who committed to deliver starting January this year.
After the initial delivery of 10.8 MT of tomatoes, specific adjustments in the kind of tomatoes produced by the farmers were identified to conform with the quality standards required by the company before the next delivery which is to be scheduled and confirmed by Tosen.
The recommendations identified were the production of red or ripe tomatoes that will undergo processing while keeping semi-ripe tomatoes to a minimum before the delivery; the FCA’s removal of the crown from the tomatoes during consolidation, cleaning, and sorting before delivery; the segregation of tomatoes by variety with the corresponding markings to determine traceability.
Delivery documentation identifying ownership, name of farm, name of farmer, and other related information should be prepared before delivery of product as subsequent deliveries entail the use of machines; reduction in the use of pesticides to reduce the cost of production and processing; samples provided passes the variety of tests to ensure suitability for processing; the profiling of farm planting/harvest schedule to be used as data.
The monitoring and documentation of the agreement is overseen by the Agriculture Program Coordinating Office (APCO) Ifugao and the representative of the Provincial Sectoral Chairman for High-Value Crops of Ifugao.
In October last year, DA-CAR Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) Chief Joan Bacbac explained that tomato farmers from Ifugao started the delivery of 3 tons of tomatoes weekly to three companies in Metro Manila after agreeing to the cost structure developed by DA-CAR AMAD and WOFEX consistent with the cost envisioned by the FCA. By JTLlanes
