THE Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office No. 2 (RFO-02) said it will start operating this year a P10 million dome as a storage facility for seeds and other farm inputs, which can double as a shelter during calamities.
“We are now fast-tracking its completion so that we can already compare its advantages over the traditional warehouses,” Regional Executive Director Narciso A. Edillo said in a statement on Friday.
“This can also be used as human shelter or evacuation center during calamities, cold storage for agricultural products and many others,” Mr. Edillo said.
The so-called monolithic dome will be cast in one piece and such structures typically take weeks to construct and at lower cost.
According to DA, the dome is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. Dome structures are inherently strong because of their shape.
The dome in Iguig, Cagayan will be 8.5 meters high and 15 meters wide. The structure is flat on two sides, which are 30 meters long.
Mr. Edillo said he hopes the dome will be completed in early 2019.
DA-RFO 02 Field Operations Division Chief Generoso M. Oli said that eight similar projects are about to be constructed this year at cooperatives or farmer organizations in the Cagayan region.
He also called the construction technology a “breakthrough” with a cost comparable to those of conventional warehouses.
“Eight similar projects will be constructed this year at cooperatives or farmer organizations regionwide,” Mr. Oli added.
The DA said that the concept was introduced by agricultural engineers at a conference last year. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
