Aquino urged to stop veggie smuggling

By Dexter A. See

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Agriculture stakeholders here urged President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino III to give priority to protection of the lucrative vegetable industry, the main source of income in this province by putting a stop to the smuggling of vegetables from abroad.

The appeal of vegetable farmers came after unscrupulous smugglers started flooding the country’s markets with imported carrots and potatoes while leaders of the nation changed guards which greatly affected wholesale prices here at the vegetable trading post.

The stakeholders in the local vegetable industry urged the Aquino administration to be firm in fighting vegetable smuggling for the welfare of farmers in the countryside.

They asked Aquino to continuously provide them with sufficient post-harvest facilities and better farm to market roads in order for them to produce better quality crops.

The different farmers associations said development of the local vegetable industry goes beyond politics since vegetable farming is the primary source of livelihood of over 250,000 individuals in the 13 towns of this vegetable-producing province.