Department of Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar and Regional Executive Director  (RED) Narciso A. Edillo visited  Panagsisibuyas Festival in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya on March 17, 2022,   to witness  the ground breaking and inauguration of agriculture facilities in the town including rain shelter and onion cold storage facilities and the  Farmers Trading Center.

Part of  the  onion harvest field day was an information caravan  where technical session was conducted including  DA’s credit program for HVC/Onion Farmers by the DA Agricultural Credit and Policy Council; DA’s Insurance Program by DA-Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation; Onion Production Technologies and Marketing Strategies by Private Seed Companies ; EcoFrost Technology by EcoFrost Philippines;  and Farm and Fisheries Clustering  and Consolidation (F2C2) Program by DA Regional Feld office No. 02. 

In an interview,  RED Edillo said that the rain shelter facility is a strategy to protect farm produce crops particularly onions which  generally do not need supplemental watering. 

“Dahil sa pabago-bago ng panahon, iyan ang advantage ng ating rain shelter facility, para ang mga high value crops like onions, will always have availability of supply in the market  and  to avoid importing of such products. Dapat tangkilikin ang sariling local products. ‘Buy local products, consume local products’ ika nga, dahil naniniwala ako na kapag galing mismo sa atin ang produkto, alam  natin kung anong  pestisdyo ang inaaplay natin, na isa sa napakahalang bagay sa ating kaalaman para sa kalusugan ng mga consumers .” Edillo said. 

With the fertilizers becoming more and more expensive nowadays, Edillo encourage farmers to use local resources and regulate the use of pesticides so that  good agricultural practices is promoted,   and ultimately follow the advocacy of DA Secretary William Dar, to have a balanced fertilization. 

“Its good to know that the province of Nueva Vizcaya has  a provincial ordinance regulating the use of pesticides,  and we hope that it will be implemented in  all towns of the province” Edillo disclosed. 

Meanwhile, in an ambush interview  with Sec. Dar, he  said that there are still more agricultural projects lined up for the province. The Onion Harvest Field Day in Aritao is enthemed “Sa Sibuyas  Kita ay Tataas, Kalusugan ay Lalakas”  was attended by onion  farmers, and other members of  agricultural organizations  and irrigators associations  from Region 02 and Region CAR. # gloria