Carrot abundance in Benguet attributed to smuggling

A surplus of carrots from smuggled and increasing production in Benguet province was given away for free at Burnham Park in the Philippines, putting pressure on nearby farmers. Hundreds of kilograms of carrots came from these farms.

Although the freshly picked carrots were given out for free on December 29 of last year, according to Balanoy, she called it a "unfortunate" move on the part of the farmers who are losing money as a result of the glut.

“We feel sorry for our small-scale farmers who borrowed money for their production costs only to end up donating or throwing away their produce,” she told the Inquirer in an interview on Tuesday.

Balanoy added: “How will they (farmers) survive for the next two to three months? They will be forced to borrow money again. This is why farmers end up buried in debt.”

Eight million kilograms of highland veggies, valued at approximately P240 million, went unsold over the Christmas break, causing farmers to discard or dump their harvest. Carrots were selling for between P20 and P25 per kilogram at wholesale during the holidays, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA). To prevent a glut of veggies, Rural Rising Philippines (RuRi), a nonprofit organization that assists struggling farmers, has appealed to the public to purchase unsold vegetables.

The organization has demanded that the government take action against the widespread holiday vegetable smuggling, which primarily originates from China.

Benguet ships 1.7 million kilograms of crops to Metro Manila on a daily basis. According to government data, the primary means of subsistence for 58,000 families in Benguet, Ifugao, and Mountain Province is vegetable cultivation.