Cebu hosts 2nd Fruits, Veggies Market & Trade ExhibitFarmers, producers earned P70M a month after 1st fruits, veggies exhibit
By Fayette C. Ri�en
CEBU CITY, June 7 (PIA) -- Agri-products from South Cotabato in Mindanao will be showcased in Cebu City as the three-day "2nd Visayas-Mindanao Fruits and Vegetable Market Encounter and Trade Exhibit" kicks off this Friday, June 8.
The activity aims to provide a venue for producers and traders of fruits, vegetables, processed products, tuna, and rice in South Cotabato to link with institutional market buyers here, said Cris Lucero, chief of the Agri-business Division of the Department of Agriculture (DA) 7.
“Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas are importing 60 to 70 percent of their fruits and vegetables supply from Mindanao,” said Lucero during this morning’s Kapihan sa PIA that mainly featured the upcoming event.
Lucero said there is an essential need to link the farmers and producers with the market buyers to ensure the economic growth of the agri-industry.
Bai Dido Sum Ama, Lucero’s counterpart in DA-12 said there are around 30 exhibitors from their region that will participate in the three-day market and trade fair.
“We are hoping that after the activity, our farmers and producers in South Cotabato will have Cebu as one of their main markets for their produce,” said Ama.
Mindanao is dubbed as the country’s food basket as Lucero stressed it is part of the DA’s mandate to assist in the marketing opportunities for our agri-farmers and producers in order to sustain the economic growth of the industry.
Romano Laurilla, one of the exhibitors that will display their various organic rice products expressed optimism that they can tap Cebu as one of their main markets.
“Our organic rice products are already being shipped to Manila. And we are proud to say that we are the first cooperative in the country that is exporting certified organic rice to Germany,” stressed Laurilla.
Laurilla represented the Bios Dynamics Cooperative from South Cotabato whose organic rice products are available in variants such as black, lilac, red, pink, brown, and white.
Ama said among the agri-products on display at the trade exhibit are fresh fruits and vegetables, processed fruits and products, tuna, rice, and even herbal tonic mangosteen.
The three-day activity is a collaborative effort by the DA regional offices 7 and 12 and the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program funded by the USAID.
Last year, Cebu also hosted the 1st Vis-Min Fruits and Vegetable Market Encounter, but this year, it will be the first time that the activity will showcase agri-products from Mindanao.
Lucero said last year’s activity was able to create new market linkages between buyers and farmers and producers in the entire Visayas and Mindanao.
“Farmers, producers and traders were able to earn around P70 million a month after the 1st Vis-Min agri-business event in Cebu and we want to do the same for the South Cotabato farmers and producers this year,” claimed Lucero. (PIA-Cebu)
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Climate change caused Cebu LGU hailstorm - PAGASA Chief
By Amorganda A. Saludar
CEBU CITY, June 7 (PIA) --Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Mactan Cebu chief Oscar Tabada said climate change is a factor that might have caused the hail that struck the town of Pinamungahan recently.
On a warm, sunny day of May 17 this year, residents of Barangay Lamac, Pinamungahan, Cebu were shocked due to the strange occurrence of what was initially believed to be a hailstorm that destroyed houses and other properties of some people living in the area.
“It was hail, not storm, since ice eventually fell on land. This can be experienced in a thunderstorm cloud or technically, in cumulonimbus clouds. Hazards inside that clouds are storm, heavy rainfall, hail, and tornado,” Pag-asa Mactan Cebu chief Oscar Tabada said during the May 26 episode of "Pagtuki," the official radio program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.
Tabada stressed that climate change is a possible factor behind the strange incident, saying that “because the ozone layer is now very thin, sunrays are very hot."
He explained: "When the earth warms, many thunderstorm clouds will be formed. When warm air reaches the atmosphere, cumulus clouds will form and later on, thunder, storm, and rain will appear."
In places like Pinamungahan and Asturias, the cloud base is low since they are in the highlands, so ice did not completely melt and when thunderstorm clouds are near land areas, ice cannot completely melt, so rain takes the form of ice. Mostly in tropical regions like the Philippines, the base of clouds is very high, according to the PAGASA chief.
Way back in 1980, Asturias town, southwest of Cebu, also experienced the said phenomenon making the recent hail in Pinamungahan as the second occurrence here in Cebu.
Tabada also pointed out that the Philippines has been experiencing the effects of climate change-cold front that brings cold air in Northern Luzon is now in the Visayas for three years and the intertropical convergence zone that is supposed to be in Mindanao is now in the equator. These have become a big dilemma to the country's farmers.
“We are the main contributors of this predicament. We need to be awakened, be responsible. We have to mitigate. Let us plan for the worst scenario and save for the best. Let us adapt the environmental changes and plant more trees for us to sustain water,” he said.
"Pagtuki" is aired over DYLA every Saturday at 10 to 11 a.m. The program tackles timely and relevant issues affecting the Cebuano community. (rmn/AS/PIA-7,CEBU with PR from RAFI)