A month before the actual staging of the “MinDA Tienda sa Manila”, Mindanao’s farmers have already scored big sales after Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso ordered 500 metric tons of black, red, and brown organic rice for the city’s estimated 150,000 senior citizens.

In a statement Tuesday, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) pegged the advance sales of one of Mindanao’s popular agricultural products at PHP40 million, a price that Mayor Isko said is worth the health benefits it would give the senior citizens of his city.

MinDA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said he presented the idea of a gift pack of organic rice for Christmas to Mayor Isko and the latter immediately jumped on the idea.

Piñol said Moreno immediately directed his chief of staff, former Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez, to include in the next supplemental budget the amount intended for the purchase of the organic rice from Mindanao.

Mindanao’s organic rice is among the products lined up for display during the MinDA Tienda set on Oct. 23 to 25, 2020 at the Mehan Garden beside the Manila City Hall.

The MinDA Tienda in Manila 2020 is set to feature various products from Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, during the weeklong event.

Piñol said among the products to be displayed during the MinDA Tienda are fruits like durian, pomelo, mangosteen, lanzones, and marang, which are all in season in Mindanao, and fish and marine products such as live Lapu-Lapu and whole tuna.

Vegetables and processed and canned fish products will also be sold, including handwoven fabrics from Mindanao’s Muslim and indigenous communities.

According to the MinDA chief, the production of organic rice is one of the programs being encouraged by the agency for the region’s rice farmers, as prices of commercial rice were dragged down to historic low because of the unimpeded rice importation.

“Mayor Isko’s advance order of organic rice could be the single biggest sale recorded under the MinDA Tienda Program which was launched last year in Baguio City with the MinDA Fruit Festival. I also suggested to Mayor Isko that another great gift item for his senior citizens would be organic vegetables and organic chicken, soon to be produced in the Balik Probinsya resettlement areas now being established in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, and Kalawit, Zamboanga del Norte,” Piñol said.

The MinDA Tienda, which was first launched in Baguio City last year, aims to promote and market Mindanao’s products in big urban centers around the country. (PNA)