VEGETABLE production in the province of Benguet is still sustainable and there is no expected price increase despite the continuous rains.
Records from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturists (OPAG) states that vegetable production in the province increases up to 1,273,409.10 metric tons (MT) last year from 1,022,748.36 MT in 2016.
"Vegetable production is sustainable and there is an improvement in the quality of our products due to the interventions that was given by the government and other agencies to the farmers," OPAG chief Lolita Bentres said.
Bentres said the sustainability of production is due to the direct linkage of farmers to buyers and trading posts. Also, many farmers were confident to plant vegetables despite the heavy rains because they get crop insurance under their access loans from the government.
"In the production support, farmers group and association can access and acquire production loans from us. It will be in cash and interest free, aside from the regular loan access, we will link them to the Department of Agriculture which will approve their loans," Bentres added.
She added there is no expected price increase for vegetables due to technology interventions from the government that reduces crop damages and there are no major road closures within the province.
"The price depends on the supply and demand. If there is no sufficient supply, prices may vary but as of now, there were no major road closures so the prices of vegetables are still stable. Rain can cause huge damage in the vegetables but right now, there has been technology introduced that covers fields like the rain shelters and greenhouses to reduce crop destructions," she said.
For the government loan assistance, loan approval depends on association's crop proposal. They will be evaluated by OPAG and can loan P100,000 to as high as P300,000 depending on the capacity of their organization and with their financial capacity as well.
The program includes not only crops but also livestock and other livelihood projects for farmers.
"We cannot sacrifice to decrease the vegetable production, we need to maintain food sufficiency, so we need to maintain a hundred percent surplus of vegetables," Bentres stressed. (Fionna Mel Kathy Felicitas, MMSU intern)