BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) plans to set up 42 Barangay Bagsakan and 22 Barangay Centers to serve as producers’ markets in the region with a budget of P44 million this year.

Pat Ananayo, Agri-business and Marketing Assistance Division Head of DA-CAR, said of the targeted Barangay Bagsakan, three will be set up in Abra, four in Apayao, 13 in Benguet, seven each in Ifugao and Kalinga, and eight in Mountain Province.

For Bagsakan Centers, two will be set up in Abra, three in Apayao, six in Benguet, three in Ifugao, six in Kalinga and two in Mt. Province.

Barangay Bagsakan and Bagsakan Centers are programs of the government through the DA that aim to assist local farmers and producers to easily sell their products and to provide local consumers access to cheaper farm products.

These village-based food depots and distribution systems offer affordable, safe and quality products like meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruits, and directly link farmers and fisherfolks to the consumers.

In 2009, the DA-CAR successfully assisted in the setting up of 53 Barangay Bagsakan and seven Bagsakan Centers all over the region, spending about P26 million.

At present, the Cordillera remains as one of the regions with the most number of actively operating Barangay Bagsakan and Bagsakan Centers.

Meanwhile, DA Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla said the department is implementing P570 million worth of intervention measures for the palay sector to offset the effects of the El Niño dry spell on rice production this year.

Fondevilla said the amount is part of the P1.7 billion that the DA will realign from its regular budget in 2010 to carry out measures to reduce the expected production losses in the agriculture sector from a possibly prolonged El Niño phenomenon.