DA to establish national cold chain
In order to extend freshness and shelf life of perishable products, the Department of Agriculture will establish a national cold chain which will link key production areas to key service areas such highly urbanized cities and tourist spots.
The cool store technology (CST) is a preservation method where temperature of food products is kept at low levels (just above freezing points) to reduce the rate of deterioration and growth of undesirable microorganisms.
Secretary Arthur C. Yap said that this CST is part of his ‘thrust in infrastructure development and processing facilities that would reduce agricultural losses and henceforth increase the income of farmers'.
"Cooling allows better retention of the ‘fresh' quality and appearance for longer period of time and has less effect on the eating and nutritional quality of food," he said.
Secretary Yap added that some DA programs on perishable food products include RoRo/Nautical highway which enable fast and low cost trade of agricultural and fishery products using east and west board highways, Food lane project which exempts food deliveries to Metro Manila from traffic truck ban and color coding, and Huwarang Palengke which link organized farmers, animal producers, fisherfolks and other food producers to market directly to the food retailers at Metro Manila.
The establishment of national cold chain aims to reduce too many layers of middlemen who contribute to the increase of prices, improve product movement, ensure efficient handling and transport system and fix unstable price fluctuations as affected by the inability of the market players to store.
According to Dir. Larry P. Nacionales, OIC -- Regional Executive Director of DA RFU 6, Western Visayas has four inter-island connection projects namely; Panay Cold Chain, Negros Cold Chain, Iloilo Cold Storage and Meat Cold Storage and Handling for Iloilo.
Region six has annual production of 2,640 tons of vegetables from Bucari, Leon and Alimodian, Iloilo and 218,800 tons of meat products wherein 25% or 54, 700 tons of which came from Iloilo City.
The cold store facilities include and modular rooms and refrigerated vans equipped with operating temperatures of -1 to 80C, has load capacity of 1.5 to five tons, three horse power, 4x4 meter area and 1-phase plug-in electric current for 10 feet vans; and 4x8 meter area and 3-phase plug-in for 20 feet vans.
Cold chain modules for vegetables will have the following facilities; 20 footer-modular cold storage, pre-cooler, refrigerated trucks (10-footer, 16-footer, 20-footer), 1 set-packing facility, continuous washer, spin dryer, automatic weighing machine, automatic platform scale and plastic crates.
For livestock and poultry products the following facilities will be provided; 20-footer modular cold storage, blast freezer, refrigerated trucks, automatic platform scale and plastic crates; while fishery cold chain will have modular cold storage, refrigerated trucks, processing and packing equipment and ice making and storage equipments.
According to Maria Teresa T. Solis, Chief of Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) 6, post harvest losses may reduce from 25%-30% to 10%-15% for fruits and vegetables respectively and increase recovery from 40% to 60% on processing. This will also minimize weight loss for meat products and extends shelf life.
"For the Visayas area the DA 6 will prioritize the establishment of cold chain Bagsakan Center in Alimodian particularly in barangays under the umbrella of "Seven Cities" and fishery cold Chain project in Capiz and Northern Iloilo," she added.
(JEEO/RAFID 6)