Government eyes P14 billion food hubs in Clark, Quezon province

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) plans to put up two major food hubs costing up to P14 billion that are expected to be operational next year to ensure better flow of commodities within key areas in Luzon.

The DA is eyeing one food hub in Clark and another in Quezon province to serve both the northern and southern parts of Luzon.

Each food hub, which will be bigger than the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal Inc. (NVAT), may cost between P3 billion and P7 billion each, DA assistant secretary Arnel de Mesa said.

The DA will also put up similar food hubs in Visayas and Mindanao, De Mesa added.

The food hubs will serve as key trading posts for various agricultural products from vegetables to meat items. The food hubs will be surrounded with cold storages as well as other necessary infrastructure to support its operations.

Through the food hubs, the sudden plunge in prices of commodities like what happened to tomatoes could be averted since they will be stored and distributed properly, De Mesa said.

The food hub in Clark would be around 30 to 50 hectares while the one in Quezon would be between 20 to 30 hectares, De Mesa added. In comparison, the NVAT, which serves as a vital trading post in northern Luzon, is only about two hectares.

The DA took inspiration for the food hub from Thailand wherein 20 of its kind exist today and records about P900 million in sales everyday, De Mesa explained.

The construction of the food hubs is one of the priority projects identified earlier by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to help stabilize domestic food prices.

“We lack food terminals in the country-places where buyers and sellers could transact on a wholesale level. This food hub will be part of the DA’s logistics roadmap,” Tiu Laurel earlier said.