DA Secretary Manny Piñol takes home some packs of dried fish on the first day of TienDA.
DILIMAN, Quezon City – Shoppers from Metro Manila flocked the stalls of around 90 farmers and agricultural organizations during the two-day “TienDA Farmers and Fisherfolk Outlet” at the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) Compound.
Spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture (DA), TienDA features fresh fruits, vegetables, rice, and other agricultural and fishery products from different farms nationwide sold at farm gate prices. This new marketing scheme ensures that farmers’ products can be directly sold to the consumers in urban areas without the intervention of middlemen.
In the opening activity last August 17, DA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol visited the stalls. Together with ATI Director Luz Taposok and Deputy Director Alfredo Aton, he tasted some of the featured delicacies including fried duck and balot from Candaba, Pampanga. He also bought some vegetables and other products on display.
Quezon City Vice Mayor Ma. Josefina Belmonte also graced the event and was welcomed by DA Undersecretary for Agribusiness and Marketing, and Regional Engagement Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. Vice Mayor Belmonte lauded the undertaking and remarked that the Quezon City government could also adopt the TienDA scheme by dedicating one weekend of a month for this endeavor.
Buyers were delighted for they saved a lot of money. One of them was Cathy Roldan from Manila who bought kilos of fruits and vegetables. She said prices were a lot cheaper than that in their local market. Another buyer, Amy Corpuz, shared the same remark, adding that she intends to buy more especially the organic products and seafoods.
Another perks at TienDA were the free seeds and seedlings given by the Bureau of Plant and Industry. For every Php100 worth of purchase from any stall, buyers were given a Php100-peso stub. Accumulated stubs worth Php300 could be exchanged for free seeds or seedlings.
First day sales of the farmer-sellers reached to around Php600,000. More shoppers flocked on the last day of the event on August 18 which coincided with the 2nd AgriTalk seminar where various topics on agriculture were discussed.