Veggie industry sustains Benguet — Pawid

By ALMA B. SINUMLAG
www.nordis.net

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet —Commissioner Zenaida Hamada-Pawid on February 4 here said, the province has been overlooking the vegetable industry that has sustained the people of Benguet since time immemorial.

The local government according to Pawid had been disregarding the importance of the vegetable industry because of the mines. She said, the province should not rely on mining industry alone. “It’s true that the mining has sustained the provincial government but the vegetable industry had sustained the people of Benguet,” she iterated.

With this, Pawid aside from policies on mega development projects asked the local legislative bodies of the province that they should also draft policies to regularize the vegetable industry. She particularly mentioned of what policies can be passed when it comes to the issue of genetically engineered cabbage, broccoli and others.

She added that farmers are complaining that they cannot sell their potatoes and carrots because they’re smaller and more expensive compared to imported products and yet the province does not have a policy on vegetable importation.

She further said that there is a need for the local government unit to prioritize the said industry. One of the problems Pawid said in an interview is the people do not have the appropriate technology in order to improve their production. Thus, she said, Benguet cannot afford to compete in the free trade. “The province is not yet ready for that,” she stressed.

Moreover, she mentioned that the major problem that the local legislators and the people of Benguet should address is the security of tenure. She recounted that in the 1970’s when there was a chance for the people to aquire land inside forest reserves, the farmers from Mountain Trail were the ones first to apply in Benguet. However, she said it did not pushed through.

It is time she said that the province should change their perspective on how to use the lands of Benguet. She iterated that even though mining and other large scale development projects has sustained the provincial government, once the said industry is dead, it will destabized the province’s economic situation. # nordis.net