Philippines builds early alerts to stop vegetable surpluses reaching crisis point

The Philippine Department of Agriculture is strengthening its market early-warning system for vegetables, using expected harvests, weather and supply-chain information to spot possible gluts before produce begins piling up at trading centres. The plan was detailed by the Department’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service.

Regular harvest forecasts will be matched with farmgate-price monitoring. When a problem appears, the system can trigger logistics support or help farmers find alternative buyers.

Government agencies are also being considered as regular institutional outlets for highland vegetables during periods of heavy production. This would give growers another route when normal trading centres are already full.

For the longer term, the Department is preparing larger cold-storage and vegetable-processing facilities near the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center. Existing cold rooms are meanwhile being rehabilitated and smaller units added.

source and photo: da.gov.ph