Every day, Marriet Silaroy, a vegetable vendor at Malimgas Public Market, finds herself discarding one to two kilograms of carrots that spoil quickly.

To avoid waste, she distributes the near-expiry carrots to customers or acquaintances.

"Marami kasing carrots ngayon, nabubulok na lang. Mura kasi, kung minsan binabalatan nalang namin or ipinamimigay na lang makakatulong ka pa," Silaroy said.

Vendors in Dagupan City are giving away excess carrots instead of throwing them away due to an oversupply and high spoilage rate.

The rapid spoilage is attributed to the recent rains, which have made the carrots more susceptible to rotting.

Carrots that do not sell by the end of the day are difficult to sell the next day.

Rex Luis, President of the Benguet Vegetable Dealer and Farmers Association, said the current batch of carrots is of lower quality.

"Ang alam ko doon, ‘yung variety na dumating hindi matibay, mahinang klase, first time na itinanim namin hindi namin alam ang quality, ‘yun pala lulusawin," Luis said.

"Halimbawa, ma-harvest mo ngayon bukas hindi na magtatagal," he added.

As of this writing, wholesale prices for carrots in Benguet are around P20 per kilogram, while in Dagupan City markets, the price ranges from P25 to P30 per kilogram.

"Okay na rin talaga kasi itong binili ko pang three days na namin," Korin Corpuz, a buyer, said.