0
The Department of Agriculture (DA), through its National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), will establish cold storage warehouses complete with meat-cutting facilities, initially in four areas, located in three provinces. With a total budget of P280 million (M), the facilities will be put up in Magalang, Pampanga; in Tanauan and San Jose, Batangas; and in Malagos, Davao del Sur.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said these facilities once operational will help support the recovery of the country’s hog sub-sector as it was adversely affected by African swine fever (ASF).
The four DA-NMIS-funded cold storage areas will be complemented with meat-cutting facilities to allow further value-adding that will enhance farmers’ incomes as these can produce “choice meat cuts” to supply the growing market. The facilities are also seen to contribute to local production of mechanically-deboned meat (MDM) that comprises the bulk of raw materials used in the food processing sector.
Secretary Dar said the DA-NMIS will partner with hog farmers and poultry raisers, industry stakeholders, respective local government units, and the academe in Pampanga, Batangas, and Davao to put up, operate and maintain the cold storage and meat-cutting facilities.
Funding for said facilities comes from appropriations under Republic Act No. 11494, also known as the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or “Bayanihan 2,” where the DA was granted a supplemental P24-billion budget to help address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the agri-fishery sector.
December 5, 2020/ Department of Agriculture/ Philippines.
https://www.da.gov.ph/
