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Up to 100 tonnes of cabbage go to waste; Filipino farmers urge govt to do 'rescue buys'
When there is oversupply of any kind of vegetable in the Philippines, farmers find it hard to sell their produce at profitable prices; many are forced to sell to unscrupulous traders at a loss
- PUBLISHED: Sat 13 Jun 2026, 6:00 AM
Up to 100 tonnes of cabbage could go unsold as the Philippines enters the peak harvest season, prompting non-profit organisations to call on the national government to implement ‘rescue buys’ to prevent the produce from rotting or being dumped.
Filipino farmers in Benguet and Cagayan provinces are once again dealing with supply chain bottlenecks resulting in market gluts. Mountains of cabbages are being dumped on roadsides or are being chopped up to be used as fertilisers for the next planting season.
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In a country that suffers from an involuntary hunger rate of 23.2 per cent, why is there an oversupply of vegetables? Why do vegetables remain out of reach for a quarter of the population?
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Monocropping pitfall
Northern Philippines had been introduced to monocropping in the early 20th century when the American colonial government realised upland farms in the area are ideal for temperate vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, celery, bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, strawberries and certain varieties of tomatoes.
The Americans wanted a steady supply of vegetables they used back home for their military bases and leisure resorts in the area.
Over time, the entire Cordillera region of the Philippines has taken to the farming practice, eventually supplying 80 per cent of such kinds of vegetables to the entire country. It has since earned the monicker “Salad Bowl of the Philippines.”
But each farm is dedicated to only one kind of vegetable grown, a practice called monocropping. This results in oversupply of such kind of vegetable during harvest season, until it is replaced by another. This also means a temporary dip in their prices in the marketplace and massive losses for the farmers.
In lowland provinces such as Nueva Ecija and Mindoro Occidental, onion farmers suffer the same cycle. Agricultural authorities have encouraged them to plan onions but have not constructed enough cold storage facilities while allowing massive importations from China and Europe, driving farm gate prices to unprofitable levels especially during bumper harvests.
When there is oversupply of any kind of vegetable, farmers find it hard to sell their produce at profitable prices. Many are forced to sell to unscrupulous traders at a loss.
Many chose to dump them rather than spend on fuel to deliver them to trading posts. Since the start of the war in the Middle East, more and more farmers have been forced to abandon their harvests.
Private sector interventions
Several non-profit organisations have initiated programmes to prevent widespread rotting and financial ruin for farmers. They facilitate "rescue buys" and organise producers’ markets that buy directly from farmers to eliminate predatory farm gate pricing by the traders.
Organiaations like Rural Rising Philippines and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Farmers’ Movement of the Philippines) help purchase and transport tonnes of surplus cabbage directly from farmers in Benguet and Cagayan to Metro Manila consumers.
Groups such as the Rise Against Hunger Philippines - The Global Food Banking Network (RAHP) recover up to 500 metric tonnes of assorted unsold produce a day at the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal, a major vegetable trading post in Northern Philippines.
What must the government do?
Several local government units have also instigated rescue buys of rice to be later sold to residents at slightly lower prices or as part of their feeding programs to poor schoolchildren.
But it is up to the Philippine national government to break the chain of monocropping and map out a plan that would make cropping and harvesting seasons varied throughout the country.
Varied crops and cropping seasons would not only prevent oversupplies of certain kinds of produce at a certain period, it would ensure that farmers would receive fair prices for their harvests. Further, it would ensure a steady supply in marketplaces and eliminate government’s justifications for importations.
The KMP have also urged the government to build more storage facilities for all types of farm produce.
The group said majority of the poor families in the Philippines are from the agricultural sector that would benefit from fairer prices for their produce if only the government knows what it is doing.
Meanwhile, farmers in Cagayan Valley have invented a way to rescue their produce from predatory pricing. They put several kinds of vegetables that are ingredients of dishes called pakbet or chop suey in a bag and sell these in roadside stalls. Stalls are also put up during harvest seasons of watermelons, ginger and white corn.
“We are able to sell our produce directly this way. We could also price them better,” Precy, a farmer and vendor told Khaleej Times.
