STRAWBERRY farmers in La Trinidad, Benguet are seeking the assistance of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Members of the municipal council approved a resolution authored by Councilor Arthur Shontogan on Tuesday, September 10, requesting newly-appointed Secretary William Dar to allocate P5 million for the procurement of new generation of strawberry planting materials in Benguet capital town.
“The existing strawberry planting materials were already at the 4th and 6th generation which are suited in the municipality of La Trinidad,” stated Shontogan.
Shontogan added the preferred variety are Sweet Charlie, Festical, and San Andres which are suited in the municipality and will benefit 2,000 farmers.
The municipality remains the major source of strawberries distributed in the different markets in the country including Baguio City. Harvest season starts December to March annually.
Shontogan said the recent typhoons and continuous rains caused floods and swamped portion of strawberry field in the town, damaging farms and growing strawberries.
La Trinidad holds the Guinness World record for baking the biggest strawberry short cake in 2004 weighing 9,622.23 kilograms.
Based on the town’s data, 79.49 hectares of farms were planted with strawberries in 2018 with an average annual harvest of 1775 metric tons or 22.5 tons per hectare.
Aside from the farming, the industry also helps provide income for more than 100 producers of strawberry wine, jam and other related goods.
The resolution was forwarded to the office of Secretary William Dar and Mayor Romeo Salda.