The Department of Agriculture Cordillera called for strong collaborative efforts from the public and private sectors to address the recurrent problems regarding produce in their region.

DA-CAR Officer in Charge-Regional Executive Director Atty. Jennilyn Dawayan expressed these sentiments during a dialogue in La Trinidad, Benguet, last Wednesday, where updates on initiatives for food security and anti-smuggling were discussed. She said that the department is pleased as they are now pursuing discussions ‘more inclusively.’

“As they say, 'Little knowledge is dangerous,' so, our experts are here. The battleground is not in the news and not [on] social media,” she said. “There is no glory in mudslinging when DA or LGUs are pitted against each other.”

“There is a better feeling when concerns are appropriately raised and solutions are collectively addressed and decided. Every country has continuously developed with strong private-public collaboration,” Dawayan said, describing the vegetable industry ecosystem as volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

The DA key official also expressed hope that the farmer’s decision to plant will be based on a ‘business decision.’

“We long for the day that the farmer is empowered to price their produce firmly based on its production cost (using appropriate technologies that also lower its cost) and a markup,” Dawayan said, stressing that the agency will ensure farmers’ protection from exploitation and that they are provided with the right market links.

Currently, the prices of some highland vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, and Baguio beans, have dropped in local markets. Moreover, videos of cabbage dumping on roadsides and cliffs and other crops being given away for free also circulated online in the early weeks of January.

With this, DA-CAR has extended its assistance by linking the affected farmers' crops to more potential markets within and outside their region using Kadiwa trucks.