Turning to tomatoes amid the pandemic

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan: There’s more to tomatoes than tomato sauce with the nongovernment organization Roxas West Ladies Tomatoes Industry (RoxWELTI) in Roxas, Cagayan.

Tomato wine, tomato candy, tomato paste, tomato juice, tomato chili sauce and tomato vinegar — RoxWELTI produces them all.

The women behind the NGO get technological assistance from the Department of Science and Technology

(DoST)-Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) in their livelihood venture during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Nora Garcia, DoST provincial director of Batanes, said production of processed agricultural products should continue amid the pandemic.

Region 2 groups Batanes, Quirino, Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya.

The DoST-Region 2 had trained members of RoxWELTI at the

Sentro Bahaginan Skills Training Center before the NGO went into actual production.

Corazon Calderon, founder of Sentro Bahaginan, said they aimed to create employment not only for the members of RoxWELTI but also for the people of Roxas town.

“At present, we can process 20,000 kilos of tomatoes. Turning these into tomato paste and other processed products will be a big help in coping with the negative impact of Covid- 19,"

Calderon said.

She estimated that they could make P200,000 from the 20,000 kilos of tomatoes.

Sentro Bahaginan oversees the tomato production in Roxas.

The business enterprise is a partnership between the DoST-Region 2 and the Department of Trade and Industry-Region 2, the local government unit of Roxas, Isabela State University in Cabagan town and Singaporean Polytechnic.