A food terminal and trading post are being built in Batangas to help farmers recover from the pandemic.
This will be done under the “Agri-industrial Business Corridor” program of the provincial government of Batangas.
The trading center will be built on more than 9 hectares of land in Barangay Malainin in Ibaan, collaborating with the Department of Agriculture.
There are also food processing plants, cold storage facilities, and dressing plants for poultry in the area.
“Kung andito ang trading post, kahit pa dumating ang mga ganyan mabilis natin sila madadala dito. Mapupuntahan ng mga trader and ‘yung ibang matitira kung may processing plant na tao dito na mayroon tayo itatayo dito na multi-commodity ay hindi masisira kasi ipa-process na natin,” said provincial agriculturist Rodrigo Bautista.
It aims not to disrupt the flow of food supply and ensure that there is food now during the pandemic and other disasters to come.
They will also build a regional food terminal in Sta. Rita Aplaya in Batangas city, the center of the “Agri-industrial Business Corridor.”
Food terminal, trading post being built in Batangas to help farmers
They also have their own food port and fish port in Danglayan in San Pascual town.
Its 29-hectare area is a joint project of the Batangas Government and the Department of Agriculture.
According to Batangas Provincial Administrator Leonardo Dimaunahan, it is not only Batangas’ agriculture that will prosper with the construction of the regional food terminal.
“Ito ay kasama rin sa tinatawag natin ASEAN connectivity. Darating ang panahon, ito ay napagpirmahan na ang lahat [ng] ASEAN countries ay magkakaroon ng highway, food highway at ito ang magiging landing zone ng food highway para sa ASEAN connectivity,” said Dimaunahan.
The project will also connect Batangas International Port and Bauan Port via a coastal road.
As manufacturing plants are expected to pour into the regional food terminal, more than 1,000 hectares of land covered by the towns of Alitagtag, San Pascual, and Bauan are being prepared to be turned into an industrial park where the manufacturing plants will be built.
It is also expected that farmers will prosper as the project will also create thousands of jobs due to the construction of manufacturing and processing plants.
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