MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. met with the officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and other concerned agencies in Malacañang on Tuesday to discuss various concerns on agricultural development.

During the meeting, the DA presented the status of the provision of cold storage and postharvest facilities, plans on reducing the prices of agricultural commodities and enhancing agricultural production, as well as the proposed amendments to the Philippine Fisheries Code and draft Executive Order on Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones.

Last December, the President directed the DA to report on the status of the construction of cold storage facilities and provision of postharvest facilities by January 2024, focusing on its implementation.

The National Food Authority (NFA) has allocated more than PhP93 billion for the Masagana Agri-Food Infrastructure Modernization (MAFIM) Program in 2023-2024 to be utilized in the procurement of dryers, silos, warehouse, rice mills, corn mills, and handling equipment nationwide.

The current grain post-harvest losses (corn and rice) are about 494,000 metric tons (MT) or PhP10.76 billion a year, the DA said, noting through the procurement of paddy dryers, milled rice production could be 3.89 million MT a year, with a recovery rate of 63 percent after milling.

The NFA also earmarked PhP29.8 billion for biomass and solar power substations for post- harvest projects.

With regard to the construction of cold storage facilities, the DA has established 268 cold chain facilities nationwide as of November last year.

By June 2028, the DA aims to complete an additional 47 cold chain facilities.

In addition, the agency is planning to establish four chiller storage projects with a total budget of PhP1 billion in La Union or Baguio, Taguig City, Quezon, and Occidental Mindoro. (PND)