A new agri-food commodity hub will soon rise in the municipality of New Lucena, Iloilo, to help market and process various agricultural products in Panay.

Larry Nacionales, chairman of the Panay Organization for Progressive Agriculture (POPA) Agriculture Cooperative, said in a phone interview on Tuesday that the hub is one of the major programs of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to establish food terminals that help farmers sell and process their commodities.

The terminal was built by the DA in partnership with the local and provincial governments of Iloilo.

“Just recently, we signed an agreement with New Lucena and DA for POPA to run and manage the facility,” Nacionales said, adding that the DA provided only the structure.

POPA is now providing the necessary equipment for drying and processing excess commodities. They have already identified the equipment to add to the blast freezer that is already available in the facility in Barangay Guinobatan.

“The plan of POPA is that it will become a center later on, maybe next year, a center for agri-food commodities,” he said.

The cooperative initially plans to process jackfruit, pineapple, and cacao, among other crops.

Nacionales said adjacent to the facility is a chocolate processing plant and a swine multiplier farm, which breeds good-quality swine. They will also establish a nursery for coffee, cacao and coconut planting materials and make them accessible to farmers.

He added they also intend to establish a digital marketing platform to determine where to source excess agricultural products for processing at the center.

“There is a possibility that we could link with big buyers,” he said, adding that the plan is expected to encourage farmers to plant because they will have sure buyers for their harvest. (PNA)