Gov't Turns To E-Commerce To Overcome Agri Bottlenecks

Market-goers buy goods from vendors at a Kadiwa Market in Punta, Sta. Ana in Manila (Ali Vicoy)

- Madelaine B. Miraflor

Transportation bottlenecks in the farm sector have long been there, but it took a pandemic to expose how bad the situation is – from agriculture commodities rotting in fields due to oversupply to surge in farm prices in the metro because of a shortage.

The issue in the oversupply was too bad that vegetable farmers in the province were either forced to give away their produce for free or dump them beside the river, while the government had to impose a price freeze on select agriculture products as well as extend its suggested retail price (SRP) scheme to stop the prices from rising in Metro Manila.

Aside from the collapse of farmgate prices, the behavior of LGUs [local government units] since March 16, 2020 has brought despair to our members that I have not experienced before, United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) President Elias Jose Inciong earlier said.

To recall, the lockdown due to COVID-19 restricted delivery of food and agricultural goods, sending a large volume of agriculture products to waste. This resulted in consumers in the city to suffer from higher prices.