Arroyo gives P1M for tramlines to transport Benguet veggies

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The Benguet vegetable industry is hanging on the line and that's good news for farmers. President Gloria Arroyo gave Benguet farmers P1 million this Easter Sunday for the installation of two tramline systems in transporting vegetables. Beneficiaries, which will be getting P500,000 each, are the Labilab Agricultural Tramline System in Itogon town and the Ambassador Tramline System in Tublay town. The P1 million is part of the P25 million motorized tramline and cold chain systems for the temperate vegetable industry not only in Benguet but in Mountain Province as well. 3President Arroyo in her visit to Benguet last Black Saturday acknowledged the great contribution of Benguet in the vegetable production. The Department of Agriculture said that Benguet supplies 68 percent of the country's temperate vegetables like cabbage, potatoes, lettuce, Baguio beans and many others. DA's Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) was calling for more motorized tramlines and cold chain systems in Benguet and Mountain Province because of the lack of roads and the fact that these vegetables should be handled with care. The BPRE said that the Benguet towns of Itogon, Bakun, Atok, Mankayan, Buguias, Kibungan and Tublay and the MP town of Bauko were pinpointed as beneficiaries of the tramline project. Mayor Concepcion Balao of Atok, a major vegetable producer, said that her town already installed six tramlines prior to the project. Balao said that hauling cost dropped by a third when they installed the tramlines between the farms and the road. Before that, they have to rely on porters and trucks, she said. Hauling time of the vegetables also dropped by 70 percent with the installation of the tramlines. She said that hauling off vegetables used to take them three days in some remote farms. "Now it's reduced to just three hours," she said. - GMANews.TV