SARIAYA, Quezon, Philippines?The trading post along Maharlika Highway in the village of Sampaloc II here has increased its volume of vegetable delivery to Metro Manila and nearby areas to help ease the shortage of fresh produce from northern Luzon due to the devastation of farms and roads caused by Typhoon "Pepeng" (international codename: Parma).

?We?ve already sent a total of 30 tons of assorted vegetables to Metro Manila after Tropical Storm ?Ondoy? (Ketsana). Now that the regular supplies from traditional sources have been temporarily cut off due to typhoon Pepeng, we will be more aggressive in our buying mode to fill in the vacuum,? said Ariel Mañalac, administrator of Sentrong Pamilihan ng Produktong Agrikultura ng Quezon Foundation Inc., the first centralized vegetable trading post in Southern Tagalog which started its operation five years ago.

SPPPQ is a nonstock, nonprofit and nongovernment group initiated by Quezon Representative Proceso Alcala in early 2000 when he was still in a private realtor, through the Progressive Community and Ecological Services Organization (Proceso).

Mañalac said with the shortage of vegetables supplies in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces of Laguna, Rizal, Cavite and Batangas, the law of supply and demand has been benefiting their farmer partners.

?Just the other day, one of our ?farm managers? earned more than P10,000 for his newly harvested string beans,? he said in an interview Tuesday.

Vilma Manalo, vegetable farmer from the village of Sto. Cristo said she was able to sell his string beans at P52 a kilo and his bulky string of ?malunggay? at P5 a piece.

She recalled that several weeks ago, her string beans only pegged at P10-P15 a kilo. ?The price suddenly shot up after Ondoy,? she told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Vegetables grown in highlands Benguet, Cordillera and Mountain Province could not reach Metro Manila because landslides and massive floods rendered major roads impassable.

Lowland vegetable producers in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Laguna and Cavite had also been hit hard by the storms and floods.

Together, the areas supply about 70 percent of Metro Manila?s vegetable needs.

Alcala commiserates with the plight of vegetable farmers in the typhoon ravaged farms in central and northern Luzon.

?The recent natural calamity should serve as an eye-opener to the national government that there are other farming areas which they should also focus their extra attention. The funds for agriculture development and programs should also reach and help develop other potential food havens in other parts of the country,? the lawmaker said.

The vegetable planting program under the SPPPQ already covers several hundreds of hectares of farmlands in the second district of the province, which includes Lucena City and the towns of San Antonio, Tiaong, Dolores, Candelaria and Sariaya.

It has a daily average transaction of five to seven tons of assorted vegetables, mostly highland varieties, like lettuce and cabbage.

?The SPPPQ has already changed the mindset of the farmers that there is also fortune in vegetable farming. It?s about time the government comes in to sustain its growth and full development for the food security of the country,? Alcala said.

With a team of professional marketing people being employed by the foundation, the vegetable farmers are assured of higher returns because of the elimination of middlemen who usually dictated the prices of vegetables.

At the trading post, the SPPPQ buys squash at P18/kilo; eggplant, P37; tomatoes, P38; and string beans, P50.

Lety Delmo, vegetable trader, blames Manila-based market retailers for the current high price of vegetables. ?They are the ones making a killing, forcing the buyers to stay away from vegetables,? she said.

Workers of Manila-based traders were spotted at the post rushing to meet newly-arrived farmers with their fresh vegetables aboard jeepneys and tricycles. But the farmers won?t start selling until they know the prevailing trading price by the foundation.

It was agreed upon that the farmers would directly sell their harvest to the SPPAQ at the prevailing market price in exchange for an interest-free loan. In return, the central vegetable station would provide the farm inputs?seeds, fertilizer and pesticide?which will form part of the loan.

The SPPAQFI decides for their farmer partners on what kind of vegetables to grow in a certain field. Farmers are not allowed to plant crops without its approval, as harvesting is usually done off-season so that the crops command good prices in the market.
It also maintains computerized data of crops planted by the farm managers carrying information on who will harvest, what kinds of vegetables will be harvested on a particular date and the estimated volume of the crop.

The information aims to prevent flooding of supply in the market and to also fairly distribute the harvest to all traders.

The foundation is also now into organic vegetable production at the foot of Mount Banahaw.

The SPPAQFI has two reefer vans to preserve the freshness of newly harvested vegetables until they reach the market.