Pineapple oversupply in Cagayan, Isabela; buyers wanted

By Victor Martin

Hogs and horses in Cagayan and Isabela have been feasting on pineapples due to oversupply and lack of buyers, authorities reported Monday.
    Farmers’ group Rural Rising Philippines said the oversupply was recorded in Echague and San Guillermo in Isabela and Santa Ana in Cagayan.
    “There are no buyers. There will be no income from this harvest. What a painful irony – the animals feast while their owners go hungry. We’re talking tons of pineapples, not just a few kilos,” Rural Rising Philippines founder Ace Estrada said.
Estrada said the pineapples are also rotting in the fields.
    “Even these lucky animals can only eat so much. The rest of the fruits are uneaten, unseen and rotting in the fields,” Estrada said.
    He said his group would buy at least three tons of pineapples to help local farmers recover from their losses.
    “We are taking three tons and we’ve gathered barely a ton of orders. We need everyone to get two tons more,” he said.
    Estrada said the public could help by ordering pineapples at P249 for seven kilos or P35 per piece.
    “That’s five times cheaper than the prices in the supermarkets,” Estrada said, adding the pineapples are of a special variety from Hawaii.
    “It pains us seeing these images. It’s massive food waste bordering on social injustice. We must help the farmers directly in the face of overproduction,” Estrada said.