Small-scale farmers in Ilocos Norte are inspired to grow more onions this year after a cooperative was given a PHP2.6 million grant for the procurement of a refrigerated delivery truck.

Primrose Manglal-lan, chair of the Board of Directors of the Bacarra Multi-Purpose Cooperative, confirmed this to the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday, saying the delivery of the 8.5-ton capacity truck is expected in March.

“We are so glad and thankful to have a refrigerated delivery truck to better serve our farmer-members. This will unlock more opportunities for small-scale farmers to grow their income,” she said in a phone interview.

To minimize post-harvest losses and to have better access to the food value chain, the Ilocos Norte Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Center has been consolidating and clustering farmers here.

Manglal-lan said this is the first time that the cooperative received Japanese government funding, through Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko, to help small farmers with limited access to transportation and who are relying mainly on intermediaries and rented vehicles.

To date, onion growers in the province, through the Bacarra cooperative, are preparing to deliver around 30 tons of white onions to a direct buyer in Metro Manila.

This was made possible through farm clustering, assisting farmers from production, postharvest, processing and marketing their products.

Aside from onion, farmers here are also considering planting other high-value crops such as bell pepper which commands a better price in the market. (PNA)