DA-CAR Assisted Cooperatives Gather Together for Success

The Department of Agriculture –CAR through the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) in coordination with Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center (BAPTC) conducted a market matching on rice at the Eco Lodge, Lower Magsaysay, Baguio City on July 27, 2017.

Representatives from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Luzon -Federation of Cooperatives (EDNL-FEDCO), a DA-assisted rice producer in Kalinga which serves as the pilot coop of the Corporate Rice Farming Project (CRFP) of DA-CAR attended the activity together with the La Trinidad Municipal Multi-purpose Employees Coop and the BAPTC assisted coops.

Busigan MPC, another DA-assisted vegetable producer and an old buyer of rice in the EDNL-FEDCO was also invited.

This undertaking aims to help the CRFP in its target to supply BAPTC assisted vegetable producer’s coops with rice by linking EDNL-FEDCO as a rice supplier to BAPTC cooperatives.

During the market matching, the new buyers made an on the spot order of about 160 cavans of rice at 25 kgs per cavan. Busigan MPC ordered an additional 200 cavans.

Old buyers from the first market matching activity who were present during the activity raised some issues on their transaction with the EDNL-FEDCO. One of the issues raised pertain to broken grains that was delivered to the Busigan MPC. EDNL-FEDCO immediately addressed the issue by explaining that it was because of the characteristic of the rice variety as consulted to the rice experts from DA-CAR.

Busigan MPC has been consistently buying rice products from the EDNL-FEDCO since the first market matching on May 2017 and they have ordered a total of around 720 cavans at 25 kilograms. The two coops established inter trading activities. The Busigan MPC is bringing their vegetable products to Kalinga and picking up rice back to Busigan, Mankayan, Benguet.

EDNL-FEDCO is also willing to help the Busigan MPC in marketing their products in Kalinga especially those that are not highly perishable like potatoes, carrots and beans.

AMAD is very supportive of this activity. Jean Mayos, Agriculturist I of AMAD said that this is one of the good things that happened in the history of their market matching support activity. “We are glad that the assisted cooperatives of the DA-CAR are supporting each other in their endeavours to succeed. We look forward to seeing the trading between the rice producers and vegetable producers will flourish. We hope that a written agreement or MOA especially between the EDNL-FEDCO and Busigan MPC will take shape,” she added.//Rebecca Dibdiben