Mindanao Vegetable Congress set

THE Vegetable Industry Council of Southern Mindanao Inc. (VICSM) is set to stage the two-day 8th Mindanao Vegetable Congress with some 250 farmers from all over Mindanao participating to promote the farmers' vegetable produce.

The congress fires off from August 13 and 14 and has "Improved Market Accessibility: Key to Poverty Alleviation" as its theme for this year.

VICSM president Rey Acain, speaking in Wednesday's Club 888 Forum at the Marco Polo Hotel Davao, said they have lined up several activities including the giving of training to farmers on good practices to yield good production results.

"The congress aims to improve economic standards of the farmers," Acain said.

Acain failed to give the number of production volume of farmers in Mindanao, but identified the areas that are known as top producers of vegetables. These include Bukidnon, Davao City, Bansalan, Maragusan, General Santos City (Gensan) and some parts of Davao del Norte and South Cotabato.

Acain, in an earlier forum, said they will also be introducing the Farmers' E-Market to the participants of the congress next month.

E-marketing allows farmers to send information on the volume of their production through text message or SMS. Then, the network will consolidate all the information from the farmers into one comprehensive report to be posted on their website.

Through this, the executive said farmers will have better overview whether the supply of vegetables are oversupplied and undersupplied. This will allow farmers to come up with better prices.

Smart Communications will provide the new system for farmers for free with a total of P2 million budget allocation for this project, which is 50 percent completed.

Through the E-Market, consumer can also shop for products online. A trading center will also be put up to deliver the products to consumers.

This system will be piloted in Davao City first, before opening it to the market of the entire Mindanao.