Farmers in the province of Ilocos Norte are excited to revive planting tomatoes with the operation of a new cold storage facility in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte where they can directly sell their produce to consumers.

Tomato is among the high-value crops of Ilocos Norte with a ready market, but with the closure of the Northern Foods Corporation that is engaged in tomato paste production in Northern Luzon, many contract growers have shifted to other crops since 2021.

“Our farmers can start planting tomatoes again and whatever excess in their produce will be accommodated by the cold storage plant to prolong its shelf life and later on it will be sold to local consumers,” Elena Garcia, manager of the San Joaquin Multi-purpose Cooperative, said in a media interview on Thursday.

The PHP33.4 million tomato cold storage, funded by the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), was turned over to the cooperative on July 29, 2024.

It is the first operational cold storage in the Ilocos Region under the PRDP and can store up to 100 metric tons of tomatoes.

“We are glad to have a cold storage facility now to better manage the supply and demand of tomatoes,” said Virgilio Dela Cruz, a farmer from Piddig town.

Under the clustered farming of tomatoes in various parts of the province, the Ilocos Norte government continues to help farmers by distributing hybrid tomato seeds to farmer-cooperators in the towns of Sarrat, Dingras, and Paoay, as well as in the cities of Batac and Laoag.

For its first year of operation, 50 contract grower-members of the Sarrat cooperative are expected to have a 212 percent increase in annual income for two planting seasons with the help of the cold storage facility.

During a dialogue with local farmers on Monday, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc said “the cold storage is not a long-term solution” because farmers should already have an idea on their markets and price of their products before planting their produce.

“Let us be market-driven so that our farmers and this cooperative will have a bigger income. Let’s make sure that this will succeed and become something that we can be proud of and ultimately, provide a significant benefit to our farmers. This will be something we can benchmark and replicate across the province,” he said. (PNA)