The Philippines Ministry of Agriculture says its program to prepare small farmers for the planned 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Community is firmly on track. For three and a half years, the department has been helping small farmers to integrate their land holdings to achieve the economies of scale necessary to take advantage of the regional free market of over 600 million people. The focus is now shifting to getting post-harvest processes in place and to establish marketing hubs. The centres will not only serve as storage, transport and marketing hubs, but will also provide training for farmers.
