The Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office No. 02 (DA-RFO 02) will soon operate the first ever monolithic dome in the country this 2019.

Already in its finishing touches, the facility worth ten million pesos shall serve as warehouse of agricultural products such as seeds and other farm inputs. It measures 8.5 meter in height, 15 meter width and 30 meter length.

Erected at the center of DA-Southern Cagayan Research Center (SCRC), Minanga Norte, Iguig, Cagayan, the dome is a climate smart technology that can withstand typhoons and earthquake.

According to Regional Executive Director Narciso A. Edillo, the state of the art warehouse will be a breakthrough in the region’s agriculture sector particularly for seeds storage to maintain seed viability and quality.

“This can also be used as human shelter or evacuation center during calamities, cold storage for agricultural products and many others,” he said.

“We are now fastracking its completion so that we can already compare its advantages over the traditional warehouses. Hopefully, our dear Secretary Emmanuel F. Pinol will be coming to witness how the project operates when we will be launching monolothic dome preferably early part of the year.”

The idea was first introduced in the department during a national conference of agricultural engineers last year wherein foreign and local experts had presented the technology.

“Considering that the technology on “monolithic” is a breakthrough in the field of construction and its cost is comparable to that of the allocated fund for conventional warehouse, the office had immediately considered the project,” said Engr. Generoso Oli, Chief, Field Operations Division of DA-RFO 02.

“Eight similar projects will be constructed this year at cooperatives or farmer organizations regionwide.”

A monolithic dome is a structure cast in a one-piece form. The form may be permanent or temporary and may or may not remain part of the finished structure.

Project Engineer Benjamin Progowski of Monolithic Dome Institute in Germany explained that the technology is already an old practice in the United States.

“Monolithic dome existed fifty years ago with various uses such as churches, schools, sports facilities and shelters for humans and animals,” he said.

“We can put up small structure of dome in two weeks so it will lessen labor costs.”