Real-time agri info seen to avoid veggie glut

BAGUIO CITY—The energy crisis has paved the way for out-of-the-box initiatives in Cordillera farms to address festering problems like market oversupply as months of oil price shocks and the anticipated onslaught of a long dry spell prompt farmers to make their investment count.

Cordillera farmers will soon be provided real-time information about what those in other areas are planting, possibly through drone or geotagged videos, so they can make informed decisions about what crops to grow, Department of Agriculture (DA) Cordillera Director Jennilyn Dawayan said on Tuesday.

Planting reports

Benguet grows 80 percent of salad vegetables consumed in Metro Manila and other provinces in Luzon. But some farmers complained about supply glut last month.

Showing farmers what vegetables have been planted in other towns or regions may help them select other high-value crops to grow and widen market choices, Dawayan said. Many mountainside gardens and farms which operate as small individual production areas are separated by the terrain.

The idea of providing planting reports to farming communities would be presented to the governors of the Cordillera provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Abra, Apayao, which have the manpower and resources to execute periodic updates either over social media and traditional media like television or radio or even through leaflets, she said.

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“It’s possible we can undertake this by June [during the planting season],” Dawayan said.

Farmers have not been sharing sufficient information about what is being grown even though they are usually active online, partly because of competition, she added.