LA TRINIDAD, Benguet April 07 – Boardmember Nestor Fongwan, Jr. proposed the conduct of the time-honored barter of highland vegetables with lowland vegetables and other products from other parts of the country that are also equally important in sustaining the living condition of the people while Luzon is still under an enhanced community quarantine.
Fongwan came out with the in pushing for a barter of highland vegetables considering that there is an oversupply of the produce of farmers caused by the low demand and the available lowland vegetables and other agricultural crops so that people who have the difficulty of accessing the same due to the lockdown.
“We came out with the idea to have a barter of highland and lowland vegetables to allow our residents to have easy access to the lowland vegetables while our lowland brothers and sisters could also access the highland vegetables produced by our hardworking farmers from the different vegetable-producing areas in our province,” Boardmember Fongwan stressed.
The local legislator disclosed that he was able to formulate the idea on the barter of highland and lowland vegetables considering that there is an oversupply of some types of highland vegetables that are allegedly wasted that is why the same will be the ones that will be bartered for the kinds of lowland vegetables that are also over produced in the different parts of the lowlands to ensure that the same will land into the tables of people who are really in need of assistance considering the effect of the enhanced community quarantine.
According to him, the proposed barter of highland and lowland vegetables will also help the farmers have the markets for their produce to at least recover their expenses in the production of their agricultural crops so that they will be able to have the initial capital to plant for the next cropping season for them to sustain their primary source of livelihood amidst the significant decline in the demand for both types of vegetables due to the serious negative effect of the enhanced community quarantine.
Fongwan stated that he is still looking for similar advocates of such barter in the lowlands for them to be able to finalize things and to pursue the desired exchange in products so that residents will also have the easy access to lowland vegetables which people also look for in the markets considering the limited supply being brought to the province.
Benguet remains to be the major producer of highland vegetables considering that it produces more than 80 percent of the semi-temperate vegetables being sold in the different parts of the country through the past several decades.
Fongwan pointed out that it is high time for the local governments and the concerned stakeholders to support the farmers wanting to sell their produce but could not actually do so considering the limited demand through various initiatives that could bring back the vibrance of the vegetable industry considering that it is their major source of income that sustain the living condition of their families, now is the time for them to show their support for them to be able to recover from the slump of the country’s economy which is the drawback of the enhanced community quarantine.
He urged the public to provide additional inputs on how to improve the said barter to benefit more highland and lowland farmers during the quarantine period.
By Dexter A. See
