By Dexter A. See
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet –
Farmers cooperatives in the province must continue widening their membership
and expanding their areas of coverage in order to allow locally produced
agricultural crops to sustain the stiff competition during the implementation
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade next year,
Gov. Nestor Fongwan said here Wednesday.
Fongwan said the
direct impact of the zero tariff on goods and services cannot be solved by the
individual farmers but it could be addressed by the combined efforts of the
agriculture industry stakeholders through cooperativism.
He said it is high
time for farmers to adopt crop programming to be able to guarantee the
year-round supply of semi-temperate vegetables which will be able to compete in
the global trade.
“Our farmers must
already secure the certification from concerned government agencies that they
already practice good agricultural practices from the production areas to the
post-harvest operations so that their produce will be able to make it to the
international market,” Fongwan said.
He admitted the major
problem confronting local farmers cooperatives is the inability of the groups
to sustain the supply of highland vegetables to both wet market and high-end
consumers, thus, the need for them to widen their membership and expand their
areas of coverage to be able to ensure consistent supply of vegetables for a
period of 376 days and beyond.
With a bigger capital,
the governor explained cooperatives will be able to provide value added to
their produce and ensure their marketability in the international market
considering that local agricultural crops are much fresher, juicer, crispier
and sweeter compared to the same highland vegetables, particularly cabbage,
lettuce, carrots, potatoes, peas, cauliflower, beans, pepper among others,
which come from other neighboring countries.
He said farmers who
are GAP-certified will be the priority farmers whose products will be shipped
to other neighboring countries in order to be sold and compete with other
international products, thus, farmers must make sure that they observe quality
and food safety from the selection of seeds to be planted, judicious use of
fertilizers and pesticides, proper sanitation in the agricultural areas, proper
harvesting techniques to avoid severe damages, proper storage among other
post-harvest operations and marketing.
In terms of health and
sanitation, agriculture experts recommended to farmers to build their own
toilets or cluster of toilets in their farms in order to prevent human waste
from being washed through the fields and that animals should also not be
allowed in the production areas to prevent animal waste from being mixed with
their produce.
Benguet is still
producer of at least 80 percent of the highland vegetables being sold in the
different parts of the country and that the local vegetable industry provides
livelihood to over 250,000 individuals in the 13 vegetable-producing
municipalities.
Loreto Boyaan, an
official of the Benguet Farmers Federation, said it is high time for vegetable
farmers to work as a group and combat the expected negative effects of the
ASEAN free trade by pooling their resources and putting value added to their
produce by being able to properly package their products for the stiffer
competitions in the global market.
“We have to face the
problems of the ASEAN free trade squarely because we know are produce can
compete in terms of quality. It is only in the packaging and marketing where we
have to improve,” Boyaan stressed.
Boyaan appealed to
fellow farmers and cooperatives in the province to get their acts together in
order to help them combat the serious negative effects of the free trade to
their produce considering that pricing will be one of the major problems that
they will encounter, thus, the need for government agencies to help in reducing
the prices of farm inputs in order to help lower the selling price of their end
products.
He said government
must consider providing initial subsidy to the farmers in order to sustain
their abundant produce which will be enough to meet the quality and pricing
demands of the global market.
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