MANILA, Philippines — A ranking official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) confirmed that more areas have suffered an oversupply of squash as the farmgate price of the vegetable dropped to P7 per kilo in Talavera and Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija.
In a radio interview on Thursday, Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Kristine Evangelista said that the DA is now helping farmers in the two towns to sell at least 200 metric tons of squash.
“We already transported squash from Zaragoza and Talavera to Metro Manila. We identified institutional buyers and markets in Las Piñas and Quezon City,” Evangelista said.
“Out of the 200 metric tons (of squash), there are only 30 metric tons that we are trying to dispose of. Yesterday (Wednesday), we delivered 10 metric tons in Metro Manila and once the truck returns to Nueva Ecija, it will again transport more squash,” Evangelista added.
Alamada, Cotabato municipal agriculturist Edmundo Guleng has said that the farmgate price of squash in their municipality dropped to as low as P2 per kilo amid the oversupply.
Evangelista gave assurance that the DA is doing its best to provide market linkage for the farmers.
“Our Kadiwa-accredited retailers are selling in the markets. In particular, we thank the local government of Quezon City as their Market Development Administrator has identified markets where we can supply squash,” Evangelista said.
According to Evangelista, the DA continues to look for buyers and provide Kadiwa trucks and stalls.
“We coordinate with the markets on the volume of squash and pass the information to our farmers through our regional field office,” she added.
Evangelista said that the squash is still sold between P7 and P8 per kilo at Kadiwa stores.
“Our appeal is that the retail price of squash should go down in the markets. From P30 per kilo, there should be adjustment in the retail price as the farmgate price is only P7 or P8 per kilo,” she noted.
According to Evangelista, efforts are now being made to address the oversupply of squash not only in Nueva Ecija but also in some areas in Mindanao.
“It is important to have digital agriculture for us to share a digital dashboard with the local government unit as to the exact volume planted, the expected harvest so that on the side of agribusiness and marketing, we can already plan to prevent us from being reactionary,” she said.
Guleng said that farmers were forced to sell their produce on the streets at P2 per kilo in Cotabato.
According to Guleng, farmers spend at least P35,000 to P50,000 per hectare in planting squash. “If their produce is sold at P2 per kilo, that’s only about P20,000 if they produce at least 10,000 so it’s not even break-even for them. They incur huge losses,” Guleng added.