Some farmers throwing away their produce as 'oversupply' affects income

Some farmers from various provinces have resorted to throwing away their produce due to oversupply in public markets, while others are choosing to give away their products instead of risking losing money transporting vegetables and selling them for a very low price.

Farmers from Mankayan, Benguet chose to discard their carrots instead of bringing them to the market because they could only be sold at a meager price, according to Tina Panganiban-Perez' report on "24 Oras" on Monday.

In Nueva Ecija and other areas in Central Luzon, tomatoes are selling for only P5.00 per kilo. Farmers from these provinces are choosing to give them away rather than lose money because of transportation costs.

Farmers in Digos, Davao del Sur are also reeling from the oversupply of cabbage which is being sold in markets for only P7.00 to P8.00.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is now looking at possible ways to help the farmers. 

"I think what we also have to do is identify, babalik na naman tayo sa data natin doon sa cropping calendar natin para maiwasan ang mga ganyang sitwasyon," said DA Undersecretary Kristine Evangelista.

(We need to check our data and look at the cropping calendar so we can avoid this situation.)

The government is now looking at possibly purchasing the vegetables and selling them in the DA's Kadiwa stores which provide the public with affordable goods.

"We will get in touch po sa ating mga regional field office kasi meron na tayong mga nabigay na trak sa mga lokal na pamahalaan. Ito yung Kadiwa Grant. sa benguet mga 10 LGU na nabigyan na po ng trak para makatulong sa mga magsasaka na kunin yung kanilang mga produkto at mabenta po, madala sa trading post o madala sa mga kadiwa ," said Evangelista. 

(We've already given trucks to the local government through the Kadiwa grant. In Benguet, we've already provided 10 trucks to help farmers transport and sell their products or get them to Kadiwa stores.) —Vince G. Lopez/ GMA Integrated News