CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--To meet the market's increasing demand for red onions, the Department of Agriculture (DA)-10, under the helm of OIC-Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado, administered the market linkage and sale of "Red Pinoy" onions to SariSuki Cebu, January 27.

With help from DA's recently turned over delivery truck to the local government of Sumilao, Bukidnon, dubbed the "Kadiwa on Wheels," Joseph G. Aguilar, an onion farmer from barangay Kisolon, was able to transport 1 ton of his produce, overall costing P200K (at P200 per kilo), to the CDO port, which was later on shipped to Cebu.

On such an initiative, Collado said the agency, through its Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD), vigorously pursues the facilitation of linkages between farmers and fisherfolk enterprises (FFEs) and other agri-based MSMEs, consumer markets, and institutional buyers.

Through DA's Kadiwa displays, individuals, especially farmers' cooperatives and associations (FCAs), may sell their harvest at competitive prices with an assured link to a market, thereby ensuring the quality and freshness of their agricultural produce.

The said shipment was also assisted by the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry-Plant Quarantine Service in Cagayan de Oro through its OIC-Manager, Arnold S. Dela Cruz.

Ahead of Aguilar's Cebu market, he has also sold 1,488 kilos of red onions, amounting to P431,781, to Gaisano Mall Malaybalay City on January 20. (DA-10/PIA-10)