Nueva Ecija farmers urge gov’t to set floor price for tomatoes

NUEVA Ecija —Farmers in Nueva Ecija are calling on the government to set a floor price for tomatoes as their per kilo price plummeted to P5.

Michael Rubio said that the Department of Agriculture (DA) has yet to reach out to them regarding their situation. But a floor price of at least P10 per kilo could cushion the impact on the farmers, he said. 

“Dapat magkaroon ng floor price. Dapat yung mga gulay natin dapat may pinakasayad na presyo…Para hindi rin maging lugi ang magsasaka pagdating sa ganyan kapag nago-oversupply na,” he told GMA News Online. 

(There should be a floor price. The lowest allowable price should be set for our vegetables…Hence, the farmers will not lose so much money when there is an oversupply.) 

“Kapag sa kamatis, kahit mga P10 man lang po sana. May kita na rin po ang farmers doon.” 

(For tomatoes, at least P10 per kilo would be enough. Farmers could already earn from that amount.) 

Farmers' group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said that the per kilo price of tomatoes went back to P5 after it earlier shot up for a while to P10 to P12 kilo. 

“Down again to P5/kilo,” said SINAG executive director Jayson Cainglet in a message. “Tumaas ng P10-P12 nung weekend, may mga direct buyers kasi but di na na-sustain (The price went up to P10-P12 last weekend because there were direct buyers, but it was not sustained.) 

Rubio shared that there were times that they had to give away the tomatoes for free just to dispose of them. 

“Ganun na nga lang ang nangyayari kapag minsan, lalo na yung mga hindi nabibili, pinamimigay na lang,” he said. “Mayroon din naman na nagtatanong sa amin na [local] government na ibig nilang kumuha ng kamatis para masolusyunan ang oversupply.” 

(That's what happens when some supplies are not being sold, we had no choice but to give them away. But there were some local governments who were inquiring about procuring from us to resolve the oversupply.) 

Meanwhile, fellow farmer Benjamin Rillon also agreed that a floor price on tomatoes would be a big help for them. But he noted that it would also reprieve farmers from the oversupply’s impact if the government could source from them. 

“Sana nga po umangkat din po ang gobyerno na hindi baba sa P10 ang kamatis, para hindi masyadong masaktan ang mga magsasaka,” he told GMA News Online. 

(I hope the government would procure from us for not less than P10 per kilo of tomatoes. With that, our farmers would not be deprived so  much.) 

Both farmers said that the hot weather also poses a problem to the oversupply as their harvests easily ripen. 

“Problema rin kasi siyempre dumadami yung nagiging supply din po pala. Kasi kada araw halos maraming nagiging hinog,” said Rubio. 

(The heat is also a problem for us because our supply just increases as more harvests ripen almost everyday.) 

Rillon said that they have to sprinkle water on the tomatoes to slow down the ripening. 

GMA News Online reached out to the DA for comment regarding the call for floor pricing. But SINAG said that it has already discussed with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. its suggestion.

“Pag-aaralan daw ni Sec. Kiko ng DA since it entails additional funding and kung paano ang mechanism,” said Cainglet.

(Sec. Kiko of DA said that he will look into the suggestion since it entails additional funding and what will be the mechanisms.)

SINAG is also encouraging both the public and private sectors to buy directly from the farmers. —LDF, GMA Integrated News