LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET, Philippines ? Buoyed by President Aquino?s call for more trade opportunities in the agriculture sector, the province?s vegetable farmers are closing ranks in a bid to gradually eliminate middlemen and expand their markets beyond the trading post here.

The key is the Benguet Farmers Marketing Cooperative (BFMC), which is ready to be launched after farmers in this capital were briefed on marketing strategies on Saturday.

This town?s farmers were the last to be organized. The provincial agriculture office and the provincial cooperative development office visited farmers in 12 other towns, particularly the major vegetable producing towns of Buguias, Kibungan, Manakayan, Bakun and Atok.

The province has more than 200,000 farmers who produce an annual average of 599,163 metric tons of vegetables that supply close to 70 percent of the country?s demand for highland vegetables.

The province is known for its cabbage, Chinese cabbage (wombok), potatoes, chayote, garden pea, snap beans, sweet pepper, tomatoes, carrots, radish and beans.

Aurelio Lapniten, provincial agriculture and fisheries council chair, said the farmers and the BFMC have taken cue from President Aquino?s inaugural speech, which encouraged giving more market access to farmers.

?The farmers saw how sincere the President was. They now want to take advantage of that and move to bring their products closer to bigger markets and to [Metro Manila],? Lapniten said.

Direct buyers

Lilia Koh, provincial cooperative officer, said the marketing cooperative would enable farmers to look for markets aside from the vegetable trading post here where most of the harvests are unloaded to the mercy of middlemen.

Trading areas are being eyed in Bulacan and Quezon City, where farmers could bring their produce and deal directly with wholesale vegetable dealers, Koh said.

?Bringing the vegetables closer to Metro Manila would mean lesser layers of middlemen who controlled the prices,? she said.

Koh said the cooperative would gather the farmers? harvests and deal them to markets and buyers who would offer higher prices.

The provincial agriculture office found out in an agricultural profiling project last year that most of the farmers? harvests are dumped at the trading post here.

The rest, it said, is sold to dealers in the Baguio City market, suppliers, private trading centers or in local markets in different towns.

The profiling, which interviewed 58,945 farmers, showed that unstable prices and the lack of other markets aside from the trading post here remained the farmers? major woes.

Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan said there were plans to establish a trading post in Caloocan City, which local officials there fully supported.

?But we still have to look for funds to develop the area since the cost would reach P200 million,? Cosalan said.

Loreto Buya-an, public relations officer of the Benguet Farmers Federation Inc., said farmers were inspired to form the BFMC, the province?s first for all farmers in Benguet?s 13 towns, after learning that Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala has heeded Mr. Aquino?s directive to curb smuggling at the Bureau of Customs.

In a recent meeting with Alcala, Buya-an said the secretary told them the Department of Agriculture would exert efforts to curb the illegal importation of vegetables.