BAGUIO CITY — Upland and lowland vegetable farmers see hope as the Department of Agriculture (DA) Cagayan Valley and the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal (NVAT) move to implement a program that will ensure their produce will not go to waste and they will not be left behind.
According to DA NV Regional Executive Director Rose Mary G. Aquino, the agency forged an agreement with the NVAT for the implementation of "Buying Rescue Program". She said this is a big help in the prevention of the dumping of unsold vegetable produce commonly caused by oversupply.
NVAT is a private corporation that serves as the major trading center of upland and lowland farmers' agricultural products in Nueva Vizcaya supported by the DA, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
"We have immediately agreed to implement the buying rescue program. Vegetables such as local cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and sayote shall be sold in our KADIWA outlets region-wide," she said.
Part of the agreement is a marketing scheme where various KADIWA outlets of the DA Region 2 will buy 15,000 kilos of assorted vegetable products from the NVAT as an initial purchase at P5 per kilo with a total profit of P75,000.
Aquino appealed for multi-sectoral support from the local government units, national government agencies, and private sectors to stop crop destruction during surplus harvest by helping the farmers market their produce.
She said their agency is ready to assist farmers in marketing their products through the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD).
She advised farmers not to throw away their produce in case of surplus. Aquino encouraged them to coordinate with the DA's AMAD.