LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government is aggressively pushing the mass production of the Snow White and Sweet Charlie strawberry varieties to ensure stable supply for the town’s Strawberry Festival early next year.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda said that the municipal government is eying a 50-40 share in the supply of both the Snow White and Sweet Charlie strawberry varieties to provide residents and visitors with options between the strawberry varieties to purchase and promote.
He claimed that one of the problems being encountered by the strawberry farmers in ensuring the availability of the Snow White variety is the alleged high buying prices of planting materials despite the support being extended by the State-run Benguet State University (BSU) in the production of more planting materials of this variety.
The municipal chief executive added that last year, the Snow White variety was patronized by residents and visitors that is why the local government, in partnership with the strawberry farmers, is trying to increase the production of Snow White so that people will have a choice what variety to purchase for their own commercial and personal consumption.
Mayor Salda said that efforts are being done to mass produce the planting materials for Snow White to help in significantly reducing the berries’ buying price to encourage strawberry farmers to produce the variety and help in providing stable supply of both the red and white strawberries.
According to him, the emergence of other strawberry producing areas in Benguet and Baguio City is a welcome development because it will help in providing a stable supply of strawberries during the peak season and maintain prices to make it accessible to more consumers.
La Trinidad is the major producer of strawberries being supplied in various markets around the country. It is usually available from November to March, which is why farmers are now busy preparing their plantation areas for the production of their desired varieties in time for the celebration of the town’s Strawberry Festival.
The mayor assured residents and visitors there will be sufficient supply of strawberry during the celebration of the annual Strawberry Festival as people will surely look for the fruit when they visit the municipality and join the various activities lined up for the major crowd drawing event in the municipality.
He stipulated that the support and aggressive promotion being extended by the municipal government to concerned strawberry industry stakeholders is part of the initiative geared towards allowing the heavily-impacted industries to recover from the serious negative impact inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic to the local economy.
Salda revealed that the municipal government is closely working with experts from BSU to ensure there will be steady supply of the strawberry varieties in the market to ensure that strawberry farmers can mass produce the fruit to meet the increasing demand for strawberries right at the start of the year until the summer months when farmers usually earn sufficient income and sustain their livelihoods.
