The Province of Benguet is dubbed as the Salad Bowl of the Philippines because of its vast production of highland semi-temperate vegetables.

Farmers in this mountainous province produce high value crops with great potential of competing in the global market.


Helping the upland farmers


As part of the government's effort of helping the upland farmers, the local government unit of La Trinidad through the leadership of then Mayor, now Governor Nestor B. Fongwan personally requested President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in one of her visits in the province to provide the farmers with facilities to extend the shelf life of the farmers' produce. This will minimize postharvest losses of crops and increase the income of farmers.

`The President asked me, how she can help the farmers of Benguet. I told her we need cold chain facilities to preserve the freshness of the harvests. When she asked me how much it will cost, I said around eight million pesos. Immediately after, she gave a check amounting to four million pesos, and the remaining amount was shouldered by the Department of Agriculture,` Fongwan recalled.


The Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture which is the government's forefront in the implementation of the national cold chain program provided assistance to the province of Benguet.
It is for this reason that the cold storage facility in Wangal, La Trinidad, Benguet was established. It aimed to develop the vegetable industry in the province by providing the competitive edge of catering to the demand for fresh vegetables in the high-end market.

`We need to compete otherwise our industry will fail. Gone are the days when we say no to importation, no to smuggling. We are now part of the World Trade Organization (WTO), that's why we have to compete`, Fongwan said.

He also said that with the help of the cold chain facilities middlemen transactions were reduced. He cited a case of a private businessman who bought lettuce at the Trading Post in La Trinidad, Benguet at P10. When he processed and packaged the lettuce, he sold it at P90.

`If farmers can process their own harvest, the P80 difference will go to the farmers. We are talking about the high-end market here and not the traditional market. Value addition is the name of the game,` Fongwan added.

`We are very grateful to President Arroyo, and the Department of Agriculture particularly BPRE for providing us the necessary equipment and assistance to help our farmers,` Fongwan ended.


Operating the cold storage facility


The Province of Benguet and the BPRE entered an agreement through Resolution No. 04-119 for the establishment of the Benguet Cold Chain Project.

The Benguet Cold Chain Project has six reefer trucks (two forward, two 16 footer, one 10 footer, and one 14 footer refrigerated trucks), two chambers of modular cold storage type, and plastic crates.

To start its operation, BPRE provided plastic crates, one unit 10- footer, two units of 16 footer and one unit of 20-footer refrigerated trucks. Meanwhile, the Provincial Government of Benguet provided the land and its improvement, the facilities which they are using in the office, one unit of forward and the annual operating budget as its counterpart in the project.

`The system is not complete. There are things that have to be added to complete the chain. We need packaging and processing plant although we have one in La Trinidad, more pre-coolers in the farm area and the linkage between the production and the market side`, said Shellanie Molitas, cold storage project manager.

Meanwhile, Ricardo L. Cachuela, BPRE executive director said that cold storage is just a part of the entire cold chain system.

`The cold chain is the continuous refrigerated handling of perishable products from the farm to the consumers. The chain includes packing houses in the farm, pre-coolers refrigerated trucks, cold storage facility, reefer vans and chillers at the supermarkets to preserve the quality and freshness of the produce`, he said.

Molitas was also requesting for another cold storage, `we need additional cold storage to accommodate more farmers during the peak season`, she said.

According to Molitas, Cachuela gave her an assurance for the delivery of additional container van once the required documents were submitted to accommodate more clients.

`We can be globally competitive. When Dole Philippines exported the broad beans and Ashinaga broccoli produced by the Benguet farmers to Japan, it was a very sentimental moment for the farmers (loading of products to container vans) because they never expected that their products will be shipped to Japan,` Molitas said.

At present, the Benguet cold storage project provides its services to the farmers like rental of refrigerated trucks from La-Trinidad to Manila and vice-versa on a 24- hour basis with driver excluding fuel. The rental rate is P5, 600 for 20 footer and P3,500 for 16 footer and 10 footer refrigerated trucks.

Meanwhile, the modular cold storage is rented at P700 per day per chamber with a capacity of five metric tons. The plastic crates are rented at 50 centavos if the farmers will use the trucks or the storage, otherwise it is at 75 centavos.

Among the vegetable dealers who availed of the facility's services include the Dizon Farms, John Kenny Farms, Baguio Growers International Marketing Corporation, ME Vegetable Dealer, GTGF Food Corporation, Gardenline and other individual farmers.

Molitas, however, revealed that the first three years of its operation did not turn out well. It has not reaped reasonable returns because it has to be fully utilized by all stakeholders of the industry.

As of May 31, 2009, the Benguet Cold Chain Project recorded a total revenue of P1,479,047.83 from all its services offered. The average utilization rate for the facilities also showed positive result. The reefer trucks recorded 66.33 percent utilization rate; the modular cold storage, 100 percent and the plastic crates, 85.83 percent.

`They are no longer interested to allocate an annual budget for its operation because of the unfavorable return during its first year of operation. But it is nice to know that despite the economic crunch, the project has finally made its positive mark as regards revenue over expenditures in its fourth year of operation`, Molitas ended.


La Trinidad veggie processing plant


Another project in Benguet Province aimed at increasing the income of the farmers through the provision of modern postharvest facilities is the La Trinidad Fruit and Vegetable Minimal Processing Plant located near the trading post in La Trinidad.


The 10 million processing plant according to Cachuela `is the result of Benguet's advanced thinking and planning. It showcases the advanced thinking of local officials in a bid to improve the agriculture industry.`

The local government unit of La Trinidad and Dole-Philippines have entered into an agreement on the operation of the facility. Under the contract, the LGU will construct operate and maintain the processing plant with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture.

The processing plant serves as the facility for washing, cleaning, and packing of fruits and vegetables which complies with international good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards.

The vegetables currently processed at the facility include cabbage, potato, lettuce, carrots, and broccoli. These are delivered to high-end markets in Metro Manila.

Mr. Melvin Meana, operations supervisor for Northern Luzon of Dole Philippines said that they already stopped exporting products to Japan because it's only on a seasonal basis.

Dole Philippines is now eyeing the Middle East countries like Dubai as potential market to export products produced in Benguet. `We are trying to penetrate the Dubai market this time. We already sent samples of the products and we are now waiting for their response,` said Meana in a phone interview.

They are also planning to add new products to be processed and these include lettuce (heading, ice berg, and romaine), spinach and snap beans.

In terms of operation, Dole Philippines is exclusively operating the facility for 12 hours per day. The remaining 12 hours is given to other farmers or other key players in the industry. There are times however when Dole is forced to operate on a 24-hour basis.
Dole Philippines also encouraged the farmers to adopt the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to improve its competitiveness.

The establishment of this facility is in line with the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ), Super Region of the Department of Agriculture. NLAQ is a development blueprint to boost agricultural production and economic activity in Northern Luzon.

With the Department of Agriculture's continuous effort of helping the upland farmers, BPRE is now intensifying and fast tracking the establishment of more pre-cooling and packing stations at the farm level in different municipalities of Benguet.