BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya —The provincial government is partnering with the Juliana Market in Balintawak, Quezon City to serve as an outlet for agricultural products from here.
Gov. Carlos Padilla said his office has coordinated with the market’s owners to help Vizcayano farmers earn more from their produce.
“This is another opportunity for us to help our farmers by providing them a direct link to various outlets, thereby eliminating middlemen, who usually get more profit than our farmers,” he said.
Padilla said farmers would most likely send fruits and vegetables to Juliana Market, a wet and dry market in Balintawak, which receives most goods from the provinces north of Manila for distribution elsewhere in the metropolis.
Gilbert Cumila, manager of the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal in Bambang town, will be coordinating with the flower industry in upland Kayapa town to join the mainstream of cut-flower farmers to the market link, the governor added.
“We were assured that every supply they will get will be paid because the quality of our agricultural products can be at par with other provinces, that is why they want to transact directly with our farmers,” Padilla said.
The provincial government also holds a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Agriculture, Quezon City government and the NVAT for Vizcayano produce.
Aurelio Bibay, Provincial Cooperative Affairs Office administrative officer, said 11 farmers’ groups are now earning from the farm-to-consumer project since its launching in August 2014.
The farmers also earned through scheduled market fairs in Quezon City Hall and its adjacent barangays such as Pansol, White Plains, Bagumbayan, Old Balara and Kaingin.
Numerous market fairs were also conducted for the province’s farmers at the Department of Trade and Industry offices in Makati City.
The provincial government spent an average of P31,760 per market fair in Quezon City in the form of travelling expenses and fuel expenses extended to the participating farmers groups in previous years, Bibay said.