DESPITE heavy rains and inclement weather, highland vegetable supplies in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) continue to be stable, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The Monthly Trading Volume Report of the DA-CAR Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) shows 1,800 metric tons (MT) of vegetables traded daily in the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post and the Benguet Agri-Pinoy Trading Center.
To date, some 448,167 MT of vegetables worth roughly P11 billion have been traded at the two trading facilities, with Divisoria having the highest share of traded highland vegetables at 109,014 MT of produce.
However, even with supply being steady, the DA-CAR is reporting a gradual increase in the wholesale prices of some highland vegetables, compared to the previous month.
Cabbage increased by some P9 per kilo, Chinese cabbage by P6 per kilo, and the Diamante variant of highland tomato by some P18 per kilo.
AMAD Assistant Division Chief Jerry Damoyan said that the increase in prices is a good sign, especially for the highland farmers in order to recover from their incurred losses due to the low buying price in the past weeks.
