Vegetable price hike looms as rising fuel costs may force farmers to stop harvests

Amid recent oil price surges, prices of vegetables may also increase if farmers halt their harvests of produce due to rising fuel costs.

According to Ian Cruz’s report on “24 Oras” on Wednesday, farmers in the Cordillera region are losing income due to the spike in oil costs.

Traders said a hike in the prices of vegetables delivered to Metro Manila would be unavoidable amid the rise in prices of petroleum products.

Farmer JR Gabol had to sell cabbages at P5 at a trading center in La Trinidad, Benguet.

However, this was not enough to cover his farmers expenses, payments to laborers at the trading posts, and the costs of the five-hour trip from Bauko, Mountain Province.

Gabol said he is considering halting his harvests in the meantime since the income is not enough to cover costs due to the oil price hike.

“Wala lang pag talagang lugi malulusaw lang doon sa garden. Kaysa naman abunadong mag-biyahe kasi kahit ibyahe mo yan made-deficit ka rin eh, lugi rin,” he said.

(If it’s really at a loss, then these will just rot in the garden. Instead of spending more to transport these and ending up at a deficit. It’s still at a loss.)

At present, vegetable prices in La Trinidad are currently stable. However, prices are likely to rise if farmers stop delivering, causing supplies to dwindle.

“Example pag repolyo, pag P4 lang kaya ng repolyo, paano transportation, P8 na eh. Di hindi sila magka-cut. Sigurado pag konti lang ang dumating dito eh di tataas ang presyo,” said Mario Miguel, vice president of the Bagsan Association in La Trinidad.

(For example, cabbages. Cabbages can only be sold at P4. How about transportation costs, that would make it P8. Then the farmers would no longer harvest. If there are few supplies here, then the prices will really go up.)

Farmer Jona Cabaling explained that farmers don’t only use fuel for transporting produce.

Cabaling, who traveled five hours from Buguias, Benguet, said they also use fuel to power the water pumps to irrigate their produce.

Benguet Governor Melchor Diclas said the local government unit (LGU) is studying possible subsidies to vegetable farmers to help them continue harvesting and delivering their crops.

“Kailangan na talaga ‘yan kasi sustainability pa rin. Kung pwede makapagtulong tayo ng financial assistance for transport, for fuel at least nakadala pa rin sila ng gulay natin sa mercado,” he said.

(That is really needed for sustainability. If we can help with financial assistance for transport, for fuel, at least they can still transport vegetables to our markets.)

In three major gas stations in La Trinidad, diesel prices now range from P85 to nearly P97 per liter on the second day of the staggered mega oil price hike, with another increase scheduled for Thursday.

One gasoline station in Buguias which ran out of supplies ended up closing for the meantime.

The Benguet LGU said it continues to monitor the oil prices in gasoline stations and urged the public to report irregularities to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for proper action. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/JMA, GMA Integrated News