Road To Food Sufficiency!

Bukidnon Vegetable Region

Spans 5 Towns, 50,000-Has.

Talakag, Bukidnon – At the height of the vegetable crisis in Metro Manila in 2018 when prices in the market rose by 300% following a typhoon, I was told of a place in Bukidnon where farmers produced vegetables at very low prices.

At the that time, Carrots were sold for P300 per kilo while the prices of cabbage, pechay and others were three times higher than the usual market price.

I was then Secretary of Agriculture, so I flew to Cagayan De Oro City and drove to the mountainous area of Bukidnon where I saw the vast vegetable production area owned mostly by the Talaandig and Hagaonom tribes, including privately-owned farms.

The farmers grew all kind of vegetables but their problem was their access to the market.

Immediately, we launched the TienDA Project of the Dept. of Agriculture and brought tons of vegetables from Bukidnon to Metro Manila, along with the farmers who produced these.

From a high of P300, Carrots were sold for only P80 per kilo while other vegetables were priced three times lower than those in Metro Manila markets.

After just one staging of the TienDA, the prices of vegetables in Metro Manila stabilized.

To show my appreciation to the support we received from Bukidnon farmers, I went back to Talakag several times and then later met with the mayors of the four towns in the region – Impasugong, Talakag, Sumilao and Lantapan.

A loan facility through the DA’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) was opened while farm equipment and work animals were given by the DA.

That was the birth of the ImTaSuLa Complex which later included the City of Malaybalay with a total production area 50,000-hectares.

Shortly before I left the DA, the Universal Robina Corporation (URC) of the Gokongwei Family started a potato production project in at least three areas of the country, including the ImTaSuLa complex.

URC imported potato planting materials from Canada and gave these out to farmers’ groups in support of DA’s production program

The Miarayon farmers surprised everybody when they harvested a record 40-metric tons in one hectare, probably a national record.

This is an area which could produce enough high value vegetables not only for the whole country but also for the rest of the countries in the East Asean region.

But government must sustain its efforts to help the farmers because the productivity of Filipino farmers will depend greatly on profitability.

#BeautyBountyOfMindanao!

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

#MindanaoCouldFeedFilipinos!

(This video production was prepared by the Beauty and Bounty of Mindanao Media Team.)