Cashew products in the province and other famous delicacies in the MIMAROPA Region will now be available through a privately-owned website that would bridge regional producers to consumers in the eastern part of the National Capital Region (NCR), the agriculture department said.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said in a statement it has signed a memorandum of agreement with Tagani.ph to help the KADIWA online work. The KADIWA online is one of the models of the KADIWA ni Ani at Kita program that helps to market agricultural products of farmers and fishermen to consumers at affordable prices.
Regional executive director Antonio Gerundio said that the technology through online platforms will encourage farmers to produce more products and also establish a value chain.
“We believe that this technology will drive the farmers to produce more and will help us establish the value chain. This is a good start that you are here, we are expecting a strong partnership with you,” Gerundio said.
According to DA, Tagani.ph is a private company that supports farmers and fishermen through means of electronic commerce or e-commerce, e-learning, and e-farming.
Aside from the cashew products of Puerto Princesa, some which will be seen on the website starting November are the fresh calamansi and calamansi extracts from Victoria, Oriental Mindoro; banana chips from Santa Cruz, Marinduque; rice from Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro and Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.
Even fresh agricultural products from MIMAROPA can also be expected on the website on the following days.
“Napakalaking problema ng dumating ang pandemic. Bumaba ang demand kasi walang namamalengke masyado pero lumakas ang online…ito yung bagong trend ngayon kaya very welcome ang ganitong tie-up. Mare-realize natin ang motto ng DA na masaganang ani, mataas na kita,” Dr. Celso Olido, chief of Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division in MIMAROPA.
The Tagani.ph is also working with DA-MIMAROPA to strengthen the presence of products from the region in the digital market and also identifying timely products to be supplied in the region. The group is also assisting farmers by teaching them about entrepreneurship.
Kevin Cuevas, Chief Executive Officer of Tagani.ph shared that the combination of agribusiness and data science is essential to effectively market the products of the region.
“Kapag pinagsama natin ang agribusiness and data science, wala talagang makakapigil sa atin. We gather data using social media…to create insights on the market demand seasonality , it’s a lot more specific which the other market do not do this. Kami kasi specific kami sa agriculture,” Cuevas said.
The KADIWA ni Ani at Kita MIMAROPA said that the first batch of famous delicacies are competitive enough in the market due to its quality, supply, sustainability, timing, market demand, and price.
