ATOK, Benguet — A municipal councilor in Atok, Benguet has appealed to the Benguet provincial government, municipal governments, and fellow local leaders to step in and protect vegetable farmers from severe market exploitation.

Kelly Denn Venancio Tomas highlighted the wide disparity between farmgate prices and retail costs, questioning what immediate interventions can be implemented to ensure that farmers can sell their produce at fair prices without being exploited by traders.

The councilor noted that retail prices for vegetables outside Benguet currently range from P40 to P80 per kilo. Despite these high consumer prices, local farmers continue to struggle to break even.

Tomas emphasized that selling cabbage at production cost — estimated at P28.50 to P30 per kilo — is both viable and realistic given prevailing retail prices in other provinces, refuting claims that produce would not sell if priced to cover basic expenses.

She urged local government units to address the issue by expanding and sustaining strict price-monitoring efforts outside Benguet. Tomas stressed that individual initiatives are insufficient to monitor supply chain gaps and called for a unified institutional approach to empower the agricultural sector and stabilize the market.

The local legislator also lamented the intense physical and financial demands of vegetable farming, citing the experiences of her own family members who work as small-scale farmers.

Tomas detailed the grueling routine of managing cabbage crops for more than three months, including late-night chemical spraying and nearly 12 hours of manual field labor daily.

According to the councilor, the actual production cost per kilo is computed by dividing total operational expenses by the total harvest weight. These expenses include seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, equipment depreciation, irrigation, land rental, labor costs, and the farmer’s management salary.

Additional costs that reduce farmers’ earnings include food expenses for field workers, transportation from farms to trading depots, and overhead costs for greenhouse maintenance or plastic mulch.

Given the heavy investments required in farming, Tomas ended her appeal with a call for immediate government intervention and solidarity to support farmers who help secure the country’s food supply.