DAVAO CITY—Farmers under two cooperatives are now assured of a market for their palay for at least two cropping seasons following their meeting with existing cereal-grain buyers in the Caraga Region.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it has linked the farmers under AgusPinoy Inc. and Santo Niño Multipurpose Cooperative (SNMPC) to local businessmen and cooperatives that agreed to buy the produce of the farmers represented by their two organizations.
The DA said nine individual entrepreneurs and four cooperatives signed last week the marketing agreement between the producers and the buyers.
The marketing agreement was brokered by the DA’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division through its corporate rice-farming program.
“Part of our assistance is to become a consolidator to find market linkages to our local farmers and the marketing agreement is the result of our market matching,” said Lynn A. Pareñas, chief of the DA division.
It would be the first time for AgusPinoy Inc. and SNMPC to have a guaranteed market of their palay produce for one year. The SNMPC said it estimated to earn P40.7 million, while AgusPinoy Inc. expected to generate P24.2 million in total sales.
One of the four cooperatives that signed the marketing agreement as a buyer said it entered into the agreement after it was assured of the quality of the palay produced by the two producer cooperatives.
“We already established our trust and confidence with SNMPC and AgusPinoy Inc., in terms of the quality of their product. That is why we are sealing the deal with them as our source of quality rice,” said Rho Cougee C. Garido, business manager of the Mangagoy Fishermen Multi-purpose Cooperative.
The DA promised to provide the two producers’ cooperatives the farm input, technologies and services to increase their farm productivity and to ensure buyers of the quality and adequate supply of rice,
The DA marketing linkage program wanted to “provide additional income to the farm-service providers and promote local food sovereignty”.