DAVAO CITY—The Department of Agriculture (DA) here downloaded the final check worth P14 million to the construction of the Davao Food Terminal Complex (DFTC) in Barangay Daliao, Toril.
The check was turned over to the City Agriculture Office on Monday at Davao City Hall.
The city government and the DA said the DFTC would hope to improve the farmer-consumer trading market “through organized and strengthened farmers’ organizations.”
The first tranche, worth 50 percent of the total fund requirement of P70 million, was downloaded in September 2015 to mobilize and complete at least 25 percent of the project. The DA followed it with another P21-million check in August this year.
DA-11 Regional Director Ricardo M. Oñate Jr. said the project was part of three primary supports from the agency for farmers “to be productive and have a sustainable source of income.” The other support system provides technology and marketing.
“We made sure that our farmers will never have a hard time selling their goods. They just have to deliver it to the DFTC and they will be paid immediately,” Oñate said.
The terminal would be opened next year and the city government would oversee the operations of the DFTC until the formation of farmers’ cooperative and association, which would sustain it.
The DA’s Agribusiness Marketing Assistance Division (Amad) would be part of the infrastructure monitoring, which also helped in the planning, design and construction of the DFTC.
Senior Agriculturist Agnes Cecilia Roble said the DA Amad would “provide the needed interventions to capacitate farmer entrepreneurs” to include training in Good Agricultural Practices to make their products more competitive.