Quezon trading post extends lifeline to Benguet farmers

Quezon trading post extends lifeline to Benguet farmers

LUCENA CITY—As farmers in Benguet province worry about their unsold vegetables, a trading post in Sariaya town in Quezon province came to their rescue before the produce rots amid an oversupply.

Carlo Cena, administrator of Sentrong Pamilihan ng Produktong Agrikultura sa Quezon Foundation Inc. (SPPAQFI), said the trading post dispatched a truck to Benguet and bought three tons of newly harvested vegetables, particularly cabbage, directly from the farmers.

“What is happening in Benguet is tragic for the vegetable farmers. They need help,” Cena told the Inquirer in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Cena said they bought the cabbage from farmers in Benguet for P10 a kilogram. At the Sariaya trading post, the cabbage is sold per bundle of 10 kg at P150 or P15 a kg.

“The price is just enough to cover the cost of travel and other expenses. It was not a venture to earn money but to provide help and assistance,” he explained.

Cena added: “At least we can help lessen the loss of Benguet vegetable farmers. They can turn their farm produce into cash before these rot and are disposed of.”

24/7 operation

Located along the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Sampaloc 2, the trading post is open 24 hours a day for transactions between farmers and traders.

The SPPAQFI, the first centralized vegetable trading post in southern Tagalog region, is a nonstock, nonprofit and nongovernment organization established in early 2000 through the Progressive Community and Ecological Services Organization. It is now also engaged in fresh meat and poultry trading.

Estacio Lim Jr., a member of the SPPAQFI board of trustees, said the trading post had long been helping distressed farmers in different parts of Luzon by buying their excess supply or assisting them in times of natural calamities.

“Farmers are ready to give a hand to

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