More veggies, please

The vegetable industry is a thriving yet wanting industry in the Philippines.

- ATTY. MIKE TOLEDO

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Philippines has a total plant area for vegetables of some 675,726 hectares in its three major islands; a total production of 5.58 metric tons; and an average yield of 8.26 tonnes per hectare.

The Department of Agriculture said that the industry is a significant contributor to the economy, which contributes 4.1 percent of the share of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. It is also an important source of livelihood and food source of Filipino households and farmers.

Of late, however, the industry has been beset with a plethora of issues and concerns, such as the high incidence of pests and diseases, poor access to modern varieties and production inputs, inadequate farmer skills, and inefficient marketing and distribution losses which contributes to overall production losses. These result in low yield and quality, and expensive production inputs resulting in high prices of vegetables.