DA urges vegetable farmers to undergo good farming practices training

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

Laoag City—Before vegetable farmers in this northern part of Luzon can export their harvest, importing countries need to be assured that these products comply with quality standards.

This is why the Department of Agriculture and Vegetable Importers, Exporters and Vendors Association (VIEVA) of the Philippines are urging farmers here to undergo training on good farming practices (GAP) for them to know how to properly take care of their plants from planting, harvesting to packaging their products to be ready for market export.

In a farmers’ forum held at the provincial Capitol session hall on March 17, Ma. Christine de Leon, representative from the DA regional field office based in La Union, told farmers a certification on GAP is being required by importing countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries to ensure product quality standards.

Once farmers undergo GAP training and acquire certification through accredited exporters like VIEVA, the DA said there is a great opportunity for Ilocos farmers to compete in the global market.

As onion and garlic growers here experience the peak of harvest season this month, several farmers here could hardly find good buyers as the on-going farm gate price is low. Based on the latest survey, farm gate price is pegged at P40-80/kilo for garlic and P8-10/kilo for shallots.

With the existing high supply of these vegetable crops, Nestor Casela of the Vegetable Exporters and Importers Association said they are trying to buy all the farmers’ produce and ensure that both traders and farmers share equal profit.

Earlier, several Ilocos farmers associations through the Ilocos Norte government entered a memorandum of agreement with VIEVA to ensure technology production and marketing assistance to farmers.

Importing countries such as Indonesia however imposed stringent sanitary and phytosanitary measures that most of Ilocos farmers have yet to comply with.

So far, the DA has granted GAP accreditation to five exporters. These exporters included Agro Trends, JM’s Marketing, Lit’s Marketing, Sparkle and VIEVA Philippines Inc.