DA urges adoption of greenhouse technologies

"This is similar to what other countries and progressive farmer-entrepreneurs have been doing, and we want to encourage more farmers through their cooperatives and associations to put up greenhouse facilities," Dar said.

"With greenhouses, farmers - including entrepreneurs and hobbyists - could produce more crops year-round that are protected from adverse weather conditions. Subsequently, they would earn more income, particularly during rainy or off-season," he said.

Dar emphasized that Filipino farmers could be better off by adopting greenhouse technologies considering that the country is frequently visited by typhoons.

"Natural hazard is nothing new, especially for us in the Philippines that is visited by an average of at least 20 typhoons in a year.We need to work together in building a strong, resilient agriculture sector to withstand the adverse effects of natural disasters. There are technology options like protected cultivation including greenhouse farming,"Dar said.

"Protected agriculture or simply, the cultivation of crops in greenhouses allows our farmers to grow their crops on small plots overcoming not just adverse weather conditions but also seasonality, water scarcity, and pest infestation," he said.

Dar emphasized that greenhouse technology is not new since protected cultivation started in the late 1980s.

"But we have not upscaled this technology, enough to sustain our food production and make the sector resilient. One advantage of this technology is that we can ensure a year-round production, allowing our farmers to take advantage of market seasonality and higher prices,"Dar said.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said these protective structures can be in the form of low-cost, simple structures using plastic coverings with frames made from wood and bamboo, and galvanized iron pipes.

There are also commercial structures or permanent greenhouses made from glass or plastic coverings with metal frames.

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Source: Philstar Global