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People buy rice from the Kadiwa Store at the Bureau of Plant and Industry (BPI) covered court in Manila on July 5, 2024 to take advantage of 29 pesos per kilo rice. The Department of Agriculture expanded the stores offering the cheap rice to ten in Metro Manila from the initial three, which will be available from Friday to Sunday. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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AGRI-KADIWA

Joyce Balancio

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17237236175431723723588235.jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">People buy rice from the Kadiwa Store at the Bureau of Plant and Industry (BPI) covered court in Manila on July 5, 2024 to take advantage of 29 pesos per kilo rice. The Department of Agriculture expanded the stores offering the cheap rice to ten in Metro Manila from the initial three, which will be available from Friday to Sunday. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said it would soon allow private sector operators or cooperatives to franchise the government&#x27;s &#x27;Kadiwa&#x27; outlets to help expand their operations.</p><div>DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. noted that there are only 17 sites th<span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EmbBNDGqtdA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span>at have regular operations and about 230 that are not permanent.  </div><p>&quot;We will allow private sector operators or cooperatives to use the Kadiwa name in selected sites as long as they abide by the rules and guidelines or policies of DA. At ang importante, nandiyan iyong mga Kadiwa at magbenta sa risonableng halaga,&quot; Laurel said in an interview with Malacanang Insider.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/06/21/23/marcos-eyes-boosting-agriculture-production" id="isPasted">Marcos eyes boosting agriculture production</a> </div><p>Apart from Kadiwa franchises, DA also eyes to establish more outlets in coordination with several local governments.  </p><p>&quot;We will be standardizing iyong operating hours, operating days para alam ng tao pati of course information dissemination,&quot; he said.  </p><p>&quot;Kapag na-establish na naman iyong smooth logistics flow ng goods at saka iyong takbo ng transaksiyon ay ie-expand na natin iyan in the next four years up to, ang target ko is 800 to 1,000 stores,&quot; he added.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/4/3/agri-intensifies-crackdown-vs-importers-diverting-galunggong-to-wet-markets-1326" id="isPasted">Agri dept intensifies crackdown vs importers diverting galunggong to wet markets </a></div><div><strong>FOOD PRODUCTION</strong></div><p>Laurel stated that his office is allocating a significant portion of its budget to increase food production, noting the substantial impact of the recent El Nino phenomenon on agricultural output.  </p><p>&quot;Halos 70 percent ng ating budget ‘no, aside po iyong mga pasuweldo is focused on increasing production. And, yes, we are on the way to that trajectory of having more production. The best thing that happened talaga is si Presidente iyong naging DA secretary, iyong first one and a half year dahil nakita niya lahat ng problema at na-increase niya ang budget ng DA exponentially to address the problem,&quot; Laurel said.  </p><p>&quot;Ipo-focus natin ang ating spending…na hindi sabog at, of course, ang isang pinakamalaking kailangan natin mag-invest is in irrigation,&quot; he added.  </p><p>The DA chief mentioned that only half of the identified 1.2 million hectares of flat land are irrigated.  </p><p>&quot;But, not only iyong usual irrigation ‘no. We will also do solar irrigation para mabilis ma-implement at maka-increase tayo ng hectarage,&quot; he said.  </p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/27/bureau-of-plant-industry-probes-alleged-onion-smuggling-1257" id="isPasted">Bureau of Plant Industry probes alleged onion smuggling</a></div><p>The DA has also invested in dryers, silos, and rice mills to increase rice harvest.  </p><p>&quot;Sa ngayon, ang recovery natin using old systems or drying sa kalye at sa mga ibang lugar, 50 percent lang na bigas ang nakukuha natin sa palay. Pero kung may mga drying systems tayo, puwedeng umakyat iyan up to 70 percent,&quot; Laurel explained.  </p><p>The DA is also establishing a credit facility program that offers low-interest loans to farmers to help them quickly access funds for their farming needs. </p><p>These can be availed through the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) or the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP). </p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/regions/2024/7/16/ndrrmc-93-743-families-affected-by-southwest-monsoon-2204" id="isPasted">NDRRMC: 93,743 families affected by southwest monsoon</a> </div><p>“Ang pinakamalaking ginagawa ngayon natin sa DA is magkakaroon ng programa, which is going to be called ‘Agri Puhunan at Pantawid’,” Laurel said.  </p><p>Laurel clarified that all these measures would not result to immediate decrease in importation, noting that the impact of these projects usually takes time.  </p><p>&quot;So, initially, maybe hindi pa mababawasan iyan [importation] dahil nga iyong mga solusyon natin is hindi short-term eh, medium-term iyan eh para maramdaman natin iyong epekto. But, of course, may issue rin ‘no iyong ating growing population, although given na iyan, but siyempre kailangan naming habulin eh iyong increase ng production. We have to produce more food than the increase in production, so iyon ang challenge,&quot; he added.</p>

<p>The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said it would soon allow private sector operators or cooperatives to franchise the government's 'Kadiwa' outlets to help expand their operations.</p>

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said it would soon allow private sector operators or cooperatives to franchise the government's 'Kadiwa' outlets to help expand their operations.

DA eyes 'franchising' Kadiwa stores to expand operations

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DA eyes 'franchising' Kadiwa stores to expand operations

Joyce Balancio,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 15, 2024 08:08 PM PHT

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Kadiwa stores

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