It is part of moves to strengthen food security in the country.
Last Thursday, July 2, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) launched the new National Seed Reserve Facility in Quezon City.
The said facility serves as the government’s long-term repository for strategically important seeds, as per the agency, and is designed to preserver these and ensure a reliable supply of planting materials for both regular crop production and post-disaster recovery.
The seed storage facility is solar-powered and is also designed to preserve seed quality and viability over the long term, while it also ensures timely access to planting materials for government production programs, rehabilitation initiatives and emergency response operations.
It is part of intensified efforts to make Philippine agriculture more climate-resilient amid increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, which disrupt harvests and threatened farmers’ livelihoods.
Through the said seed reserve, the risk of planting delays after calamities is greatly reduced and allows production to recover more quickly, thus minimizing supply shocks that can drive up food prices.
The National Seed Reserve Facility also looks to strengthen coordination among agencies responsible for protecting the country’s seed resources and supporting sustainable agriculture.
Beyond supporting the BPI, the DA said it will also provide secure storage services to partner government agencies and institutions, helping safeguard the country’s agricultural resources against disruptions caused by natural disasters and other emergencies.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. stressed that the facility is a critical investment in the country’s food security strategy as climate-related risks become more frequent and severe.
“In the face of stronger typhoons, prolonged droughts and other climate-driven disruptions, having a dependable reserve of quality seeds means we can help farmers replant quickly, restore food production faster and strengthen the resilience of our agriculture sector,” he said. “This facility is about ensuring that food security is never compromised, even during the most challenging times.”
Meanwhile, BPI Director Glenn Panganiban noted the facility is a major step toward building a more integrated and reliable seed security system.
According to him, by making the storage vault available to partner agencies and institutions, the government is fostering greater collaboration and ensures that quality seeds remain accessible for different needs.
“The facility aims to ensure the long-term preservation, quality, and timely availability of seeds for regular planting programs, disaster response, rehabilitation efforts, and other priority government initiatives,” Panganiban noted.
He also noted that the upgraded BPI facility features three 400-square-meter storage rooms capable of housing 9,000 bags of seeds, primarily rice, with the refurbishment costing less than P3 million — more than half of which was invested in a solar power system that supplies about 60 percent of the facility’s electricity requirements.
MORE SEED RESERVES TO BE BUILT
Meanwhile, the DA also shared that it ks investing PHP550 million over the next two years to build a nationwide network of seed storage facilities.
Tiu Laurel Jr. said the government aims to establish seed storage systems across all regions after recent weather-related disruptions exposed vulnerabilities in the country’s agricultural supply chain.
“Our target is to have seed storage systems in all regions to avoid a repeat of what happened in Baguio, where we didn’t have enough carrot seeds to replace those washed out,” he said.
The DA has already allocated PHP250 million for 2026 to build larger storage facilities in key agricultural areas, including Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Panay, and Iloilo, with another PHP300 million proposed for 2027.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Operations Roger Navarro said incorporating solar energy into the warehouses is as important as the storage capacity itself because it keeps operating costs low while ensuring facilities remain functional during disruptions.
“This supports our goal of reducing production costs for farmers while making these facilities sustainable over the long term,” said Navarro, who also said that future seed storage warehouses will be equipped with substantial solar power systems.