Amid oversupply, farmers to harvest more tomatoes until end of October

The Department of Agriculture's (DA) regional office office is working on measures to address the the apparent "oversupply" that resulted in markets rejecting tons of excess tomatoes.

After piles of tomatoes were left to rot in Kalayaan, Laguna, DA Calabarzon Regional Director Arnel de Mesa on Wendesday said farmers in the region were expected to produce more tomatoes as the harvest could go on until the end of the month.

"Nagsimula po sila ng harvest nila nung September 20 pa. Every other day po, nagha-harvest sila... So ngayon po, at patapos na hanggang katapusan ng Oktubre po ng pagha-harvest nila ng kamatis," he explained during an interview on "Balitanghali."

When asked about possible interventions, De Mesa said they were considering measures such as asking tomato farmers to plant other vegetables.

"Tinitignan po natin na hindi po lahat dapat sabay sabay na kamatis. Pwede po s aibang lugar ay ampalaya, sitaw, kalabasa," he said.

With more supply expected to come in, the DA also plans to consult suppliers about opportunities in the manufacturing of tomato products.

"Nagpapunta kami ng tao diyan para na magturo sa kanila ng tinatawag nating...value addition or processing village type pra 'yung mga kamatis na sobra. Kasi ine-expect nga po natin na hindi pa po 'yun katapusan ng kanilang harvesting. Hanggang katapusan pa ng buwan. So 'yung mga sobrang kamatis po talaga na hindi mabili ay mai-process into tomato sauce, tomato juice at iba pa pong processed products galing sa kamatis," De Mesa said.

'Wasted' tomatoes

Netizens who saw photos of the discarded tomatoes pegged the situation as a giant waste, citing the skyrocketting food prices amid the rising inflation.

Addressing the issue, De Mesa clarified that the discarded tomatoes seen on social media make up only over a ton of supply that ceased to be absorbed by markets.

"Ang nakita po sa Facebook ay hindi naman po 21 tonnes. Mahigit isang tonelada lamang po ng kamatis na hindi naman po talaga na-absorb ng atin pong merkado at mga traders," De Mesa said.

The DA-Calabarzon chief also remarked that it was "first time" for such an incident to happen in the Southern Luzon region, which is a known producer of "pinakbet" vegetables.

"Kahit po isang kilo lang po ang masayang ay talaga ong nakakalumo," he said.

"Makakaasa po kayo sa kagawaran po natin, ang Department of Agriculture po, ay makikipag-ugnayan sa lahat ng farmers association po para ma-ensure natin na 'yung mga produkto po ay tama lang po para sa merkado na ikinokonsumo sa ating mga agricultural produce po natin." —Margaret Claire Layug/NB, GMA News