NEW ‘VEGETABLE BASKET’ OPENS
IN 50,000-HA. AREA IN BUKIDNON
By Manny Piñol
The problem of high prices of Cordillera vegetables every time there is a typhoon or a storm will soon be over.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) will officially open tomorrow the country’s new “Vegetable Bowl” as it delivers an estimated P200-M in credit and production support and assistance to farmers in the mountain towns of Bukidnon Province in Northern Mindanao.
The four towns of Talakag, Lantapan, Impasugong and Sumilao which are blessed with cool climate and fertile soil have the potential vegetable production area of 50,000-hectares.
Currently, farmers in the four towns are planting vegetables in about 6,000 hectares but difficulty in financing and lack of marketing support hampered their productivity.
Last Sunday, when I visited Talakag town and met with the vegetable farmers, I learned that they received their financing from traders based in Cagayan de Oro City with high interest payments.
The buying price of their produce was also determined by the traders and during peak production season high quality Carrots are only P5 to P10 per kilo, Cabbage at P12 per kilo, Cauliflower and Brocolli at P10 and White Potatoes P15.
When I was there last Sunday, the farmers said that prices were quite high because of the lack of supply in Metro Manila and Carrots were bought at P55 per kilo.
Yesterday, local officials and farmer leaders of Talakag led by Mayor Virgito Factura met with top DA officials in the Central Office in Quezon City to start drafting the 5-Year Development Road Map for Vegetable Production in IMTASULA Area (Impasugong, Talakag, Sumilao, Lantapan).
Tomorrow, I will go back to Talakag and meet with the farmers from the the IMTASULA Area to deliver the initial interventions from the DA.
These include:
1. P20-M in working capital for the farmers association to buy their members’ produce to be shipped to Metro Manila and other big cities like Cebu;
2. P150-M loan fund under the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) Program of the DA-ACPC which grants a P50,000 credit to each farmer at 6% interest every year without any collateral;
3. Four units of farm tractors and 15 working animals for farmers whose areas are undulating or hilly;
4. One thousand pieces (1,000) plastic crates to replace their traditional packing system which uses cartons and used sacks;
5. Two (2) refrigerated containers to be used in transporting the vegetables to Metro Manila;
Also tomorrow, the Vegetable Trading and Packing Center will be opened in a 1-hectare area owned by the Talakag Local Government Unit.
Harbest Seeds President Arsenio Toto Barcelona will also establish a demonstration farm which will teach farmers how to use modern farming technology.
Next week, the first shipment of fresh vegetables from the IMTASULA Area is expected to hit Metro Manila which would include high quality Carrots, White Potato, Cauliflower, Brocolli, Cabbage and others.
The DA will make this available to the public in the DA TienDA featuring Mindanao vegetables and fruits Friday next week in the Bureau of Plant Industry Compound in San Andres, Manila.
The IMTASULA Area, when fully developed, could serve as the back-up source for vegetables to the traditional vegetable producing region of the Cordillera.
(Photos were taken yesterday during the meeting between top DA officials and farmers and offiicials of Talakag, Bukidnon in the Office of the Secretary in Quezon City. Maps of the towns of Talakag, Lantapan, Sumilao and Impasugong were downloaded from public websites.)
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