With the ever-increasing demand and stricter guidelines for quality in the international trade for vegetables, the Department of Agriculture together with the Eastern Visayas Vegetable Farmer Officers Association (EVVeFOA) staged the 16th National Vegetable Congress from September 27-29, 2017 in Tacloban City Convention Center.

Bearing the theme “Gearing up the nations vegetable industry towards global competitiveness and resiliency”, the event served as a venue for vegetable industry stakeholders to discuss current issues and concerns as well as to provide them with the latest technology, climate change adaptability and to strengthen existing linkages amongst the stakeholders.

Director Jennifer Remoquillo the National Program Coordinator for High-Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) in her message stressed that the Department of Agriculture is allocating a big chunk of the agency’s budget to encourage and enable vegetable growers to produce more.

She added that farmers needed to organize themselves and work together to cope with the challenges of the ASEAN integration.

While the integration poses a threat in our local vegetable industry as products from other ASEAN member countries are expected to hit the Philippine markets, DA-Region 8 Executive Director U-Nichols Manalo sees this as an opportunity to showcase our products in the international market.

“I see a lot of untapped potential in arable lands here. We can start by having quality produce then productivity will follow. We have introduced backyard farming for housewives so that they can grow their own safe and fresh food as well as to save from their food expenses.” he said.

The Vegetable Congress is a yearly event that gathers vegetable farmer practitioners, farming enthusiasts, traders, the academe, scientists, and farmer-scientists who share their best practices towards the betterment of the industry. ###(Carlos Cezar Baldosa/DA-AFID)

(Photo shows Congress participants during a field tour. Photo grabbed from DA Eastern Visayas FB page)