Bukidnon ready to sell vegetables

VEGETABLE farmers in Bukidnon are set to deliver fresh vegetables for Metro Manila markets to fill up the expected shortage of the commodity from the typhoon-hit Cordilleras, a top official said.

The Cordillera is the traditional source of vegetable supplies for Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon but with Typhoon “Ompong” destroying a portion of the crops ready for harvesting in the northern parts of the country, consumers may expect tight supply of vegetables.

Over the weekend, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said that vegetable farmers in the four mountain towns of Bukidnon - Impasugong, Talakag, Sumilao and Lantapan (Imtasula) – have committed to ship starting this week tons of fresh vegetables for Metro Manila markets.

An initial shipment of one 20-foot refrigerated van will arrive in Manila on Thursday containing high value crops like carrots, potato, brocolli, cauliflower and cabbage, said Piñol.

The four Bukidnon towns’ vegetable production area could ship as much as six containers each containing 20 tons of vegetables every week, he added.

Faced with the threat of the typhoon, Piñol said vegetable farmers in Bukidnon reportedly “harvested their vegetables well ahead of schedule bringing down prices of the commodity.”

The agriculture chief emphasized that while consumers from Metro Manila are complaining over the high prices of vegetables in the retail market, “farmers in Bukidnon are grumbling about the very low buying price for their produce.”

Last week, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, released P20 million as a working capital for the vegetable farmers of the Imtasula area that will be used to buy the vegetable production of farmers, which then will be loaded in refrigerated vans to be shipped to Metro Manila starting this week.