‘Kadiwa ng Pangulo’ opens in Antique in time for Independence Day

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – A total of 30 exhibitors are joining the four-day “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” trade fair that opened in San Jose de Buenavista in Antique on Tuesday as among the events lined up for the June 12 Independence Day celebration.

“There are 30 farmers and their associations and cooperatives that are now displaying their newly harvested vegetables and other resilient crops like mongo, watermelon, mango, and onion at the Kadiwa,”  said James Earl Ogatis, Department of Agriculture Western Visayas head of the Regional Agri-Fishery Information Section (RAFIS).

In an interview, Ogatis said the trade fair that will run until June 14 aimed to provide market linkage for products of farmers, cooperatives, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

He said DA informed farmers before the onset of the El Niño phenomenon in the early part of this year to diversify and plant resilient crops that could withstand the drought.

Their products are now among those displayed at the Kadiwa.

Also joining the trade fair are MSME graduates of the Kapatid Mentor Me (KMME) program of the Department of Trade and Industry.

“We hope that by tomorrow, during Independence Day, we will be able to sell to the government employees after the program,” said Aben Ortega, president of Antique KMME Inc., an association of graduates of the mentoring program.

Among their products are camote chips, ginger brew, and muscovado sugar.

Another participant is the Kamapat Cooperative, an association of farmers, which buys agricultural produce at a higher price and sells them at a cheaper price or lower than the selling price in the market. (PNA)