DA moves to help Cordillera farmers

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has pledged to buy 5 metric tons (MT) of cabbage weekly from Cordillera farmers until September to help arrest the drastic drop in the price of the crop, which was blamed on oversupply.

According to DA Cordillera Director Cameron Odsey, the price of Chinese cabbage declined to P8 a kilogram from P20 a kilo during the second week of August, which is already below the farmers’ production cost of P8.60 a kilo.

To help local farmers, the DA, through its Kadiwa program, committed to buy 5 MT of cabbage from the province to supply the markets in other areas in Luzon including Metro Manila.

Kadiwa features several platforms to market and sell produce, including Kadiwa on Wheels, Kadiwa Retailing, Kadiwa Express and online e-Kadiwa—all of which enable consumers to buy food while under community quarantine.

As of Aug. 14, Odsey said Kadiwa on Wheels alone had served 101 areas in the Cordillera region, selling over 27,000 kilos of assorted vegetables amounting to P940,000.

Meanwhile, the Kadiwa retail store in the region has already sold 17,742 kilos of produce worth P1.34 million. It is currently in partnership with nine farmers’ groups.

Under the Kadiwa Express—wherein the DA provides farmers’ groups’ transport assistance and links them directly to buyers—a total of P21.75 million was generated from the sale of 768,000 kilos of vegetables.

To date, Cordillera’s Kadi­wa Express has assisted 23 farmers’ groups, 54 nongovern­ment organizations and eight local government units.

However, not all vegetables being produced by the region can be absorbed by locals. Hence, the need to reposition these produce to other areas.

Moving forward, Odsey said the region would be exploring new markets for Cordillera vegetables as well as link the local producers to financial institutions.