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The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) will spend P280 million on cold storage warehouses complete with meat-cutting facilities initially in Pampanga, Batangas, and Davao Del Sur
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The facilities will support recovery of the country’s hog and poultry sub-sectors adversely affected by the African Swine Fever and COVID-19 pandemic
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They will also allow production of choice meat cuts and contribute to local production of mechanically deboned meat
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NMIS will partner with hog farmers and poultry raisers, industry stakeholders, local government units, and academe to put up, operate and maintain the cold storage and meat-cutting facilities
The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) is spending P280 million to establish cold storage warehouses complete with meat-cutting facilities initially in four areas in Pampanga, Batangas (two locations), and Davao Del Sur.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said that once operational, these facilities will support the recovery of the country’s hog and poultry sub-sectors, which have been adversely affected by the African Swine Fever and economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country’s livestock and poultry sub-sectors are among the drivers of local rural economies, contributing to livelihood and employment, and generating income for poor farm households, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said in a statement. NMIS is an attached agency of DA.
“Efficient management and delivery of food crops, fruits and vegetables, fishery, livestock and poultry products are imperative and critical, in response to the country’s food security requirements. Hence, now more than ever, we should put premium on the establishment of modern storage, processing, and logistics facilities to attain a globally-competitive food value chain system,” Dar said.
The four NMIS-funded cold storage facilities will be put up in Magalang, Pampanga; Tanauan and San Jose, Batangas; and Malagos, Davao del Sur.
These will be complemented with meat-cutting facilities to allow further value-adding to enhance farmers’ incomes as these can produce “choice meat cuts” to supply the growing market.
The facilities are also seen to contribute to local production of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) that comprise the bulk of raw materials used in the food processing sector.
Dar said NMIS will also partner with hog farmers and poultry raisers, industry stakeholders, the local government units, and the academe in Pampanga, Batangas, and Davao to put up, operate and maintain the cold storage and meat-cutting facilities.
Negotiations are ongoing with identified stakeholders, said NMIS director Reildrin Morales.
Once established, the facilities will provide services to meat processing industries, serve as an avenue for research and learning, and help enhance the conduct of the government’s meat industry regulatory functions, Morales added.
Funding for the facilities comes from appropriations under Republic Act No. 11494, also known as the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or “Bayanihan 2,” where DA was granted a supplemental P24-billion budget to help address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the agri-fishery sector.
DA is implementing a food logistics plan as part of its national Plant, Plant, Plant program to revive, grow, and reboot the country’s agriculture and fishery sector amid the ongoing health crisis.
