Farmers in Ifugao lament as tomatoes go to waste due to glut

As tons of tomatoes go to waste, farmers in Cordillera Administrative Region are losing income due to oversupply amid lockdown restrictions.

In Mariz Umali's "24 Oras" report, Pedicris Alcido in Tinoc, Ifugao said they were able to harvest tons of tomatoes but they had no buyers.

"Wala po masyadong buyer saka oversupply po. Pinapamigay namin sa kasamahan, e sa dami ng kamatis, di rin po maubos," he said, adding that they just throw away tomatoes that were not sold.

(We don't have a lot of buyers and we have an oversupply of tomatoes. We gave them to our neighbors but since there is an oversupply, we still have a lot of tomatoes.)

He also said he badly needs the money for his family.

"Sobrang sakit sa pakiramdam kasi nga po yun na lang po inaasahan naming pagkukunan namin ng pambili ng pagkain namin, sa pangangailangan ng anak namin. Pinaghirapan namin tapos napunta lang sa wala," said Alcido.

(It  is devastating because it is our source of income. We use it to buy for our needs, to buy needs of our children. We worked hard but it went to nothing.)

Ceslo Biniahan also said he was not able to sell four tons of tomatoes worth P40,000.

Biniahan further explained that because of the lockdown, they had lack of customers. Their tomatoes also could not reach the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal, Inc., the farmer trading system.

Farmers also started limiting their harvest to medium-sized and big tomatoes.

Currently, big-sized tomatoes cost P10 to P15, which is lower than previous P30 to P40 price. Meanwhile, medium-sized tomatoes were valued at P5 to P6 which is also a decrease from its previous price of P10 to P15.

The Department of Agriculture office in Cordillera region said about 500 farmers are losing income but the main office of the agriculture department has yet to reach out to the farmers' plight.

In a message to GMA News, the DA said they are coordinating with institutional buyers to help these farmers. They are also working with the local government for logistics. — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News