Higher veggie production costs seen with TRAIN

Vegetable traders at La Trinidad town in Benguet province have promised to increase prices gradually as they prepare to absorb the impact of the tax reform law on transportation expenses and cost of farm inputs. —EV ESPIRITU

LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET—The local government is looking into the impact of increases in prices of fuel, fertilizer and pesticide products on the production of vegetables in Benguet province, due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

Provincial administrator Noel Ngolob said they had begun consulting farmers and leaders of the vegetable industry to determine how they could mitigate the effects of the tax reform law (Republic Act No. 10963) without resorting to subsidies.

Benguet province supplies 80 percent of the country’s daily salad vegetables like potatoes, carrots and lettuce.

Farmers here rely on diesel and gasoline to transport vegetables from farms to trading facilities in the capital town La Trinidad as well as to run irrigation pumps. Truckers then ferry vegetables from La Trinidad to markets in Metro Manila.

As of Tuesday afternoon, diesel prices averaged P43 a liter in this town. Prices were higher by P1 to P2 in other Benguet towns. Many vegetable gardens are located about 100 kilometers from La Trinidad, which serves as a major trading post.

Benny Hipolito, former president of Benguet Traders and Truckers Association, said when increases occur, some truckers were expected to raise vegetable prices by 20 to 30 centavos.

This week, prices of commercial fertilizers rose by P15, according to Satur Ponasen, a farmer of Barangay Abiang in Atok town in Benguet.

Augusta Balanoy, general manager of Benguet Farmers Marketing Cooperative, said increases in petroleum products had not yet affected vegetable prices. A slight price increase on Thursday had been attributed to rains that prevented some farmers to harvest their crops, Balanoy said.

She said prices of cabbage and “pechay wombok” (Chinese cabbage) rose from P8 a kilogram to P9 to P14 a kg on Thursday. But prices may drop as soon as farmers bring in more supplies to the trading post, she said.

“We are monitoring changes in prices of farm inputs for the first rice cropping from January to June,” said Andres Wailan, a member of farmers’ group, Alyansa Dagiti Pesante Iti Taeng Kordilyera.

“Based on our experience, a slight increase in prices of petroleum products will impact on farm inputs as well,” he said.

Provincial agriculturist Lolita Bentres said farm supply retailers had promised to raise prices only after they had cleared their inventories. She said retailers also promised to raise their prices gradually. —REPORTS FROM KARLSTON LAPNITEN AND KIMBERLIE QUITASOL