TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija – A 60,000-bag capacity onion cold storage, seen to boost the plight of local farmers, is set to rise in this first-class municipality as officials from the local government, banks, agriculture and farmers’ organization led the groundbreaking ceremony for the facility on Wednesday.
Mayor Nerito Santos Jr. said the facility conceptualized 20 years ago by his father, former Mayor Nerito Santos, Sr., and rolled out under the term of now Vice Mayor Nerivi Martinez, will be operated by the farmers’ Bantug Agriculture Multi-Purpose Cooperative Inc. (BAMC).
The project that costs P125 million will cater to onion farmers in the municipality.
It was funded by Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) under the Investments for Rural Enterprises and Agricultural and Fisheries Productivity (I-REAP), in cooperation with the BAMC and Talavera LGU.
“Kulang pa po ‘to sa dami ng inaaning sibuyas ng aming mga kababayan kaya may isa pang susunod na itatayo,” Santos said.
Martinez requested the project when then-Pres. Duterte attended a harvest festival in this town in 2016 and was approved through the help of former Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan, Santos said.
