The Benguet State University (BSU) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) – Cordillera are spearheading a three-year research project to identify the causes of vegetable oversupply in the region, which has long caused distress among local farmers.
La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post (LTVTP) market supervisor Janice Alleg said on Thursday that the study aims to help farmers cope with fluctuating prices and prevent losses caused by excess production.
‘The study can help overcome the worry of farmers on low vegetable prices due to oversupply,’ Alleg said in an interview.
The project, titled ‘Agri-Innovate: Development and Piloting of Supply Chain/Value Chain Solutions for Excess Supply and Resource Recovery of Vegetables in the Cordillera Administrative Region,’ began on June 1, 2024, and will run until May 31, 2027.
It is currently in the data-gathering phase.
The study is seeking to analyze the region’s vegetable supply and value chains – from farm production and transportation to trading and marketing – to understand the factors that lead to market saturation and price drops.
Its first phase covers farmers’ production calendars and crop rotation practices, leading up to how produce reaches the trading centers.
Vegetables traded in La Trinidad come mainly from Benguet, the Mountain Province, and Ifugao.
However, the influx of supply has often caused drastic price declines, leaving many farmers unable to recover even half of their production costs.
In extreme cases, farmers have resorted to giving away or donating unsold vegetables, with some using social media to invite the public to collect the produce for free. Others simply let their harvests rot due to unprofitable selling conditions.
‘We often hear farmers complain about low prices. For some, they do not anymore bring their produce to the trading post once they are informed of low prices,’ Alleg said.
La Trinidad hosts the region’s two biggest vegetable trading hubs – the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post in Barangay Pico and the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center in Barangay Betag. Vegetable wholesalers from as far as Mindanao flock to trading centers here daily to buy vegetables, competing with traders who supply vegetables in the wet markets of the Visayas, Metro Manila, and Luzon. (Delmar O. Cariño