Free kalabasa in Alamada, North Cotabato
Local News • 12:00 PM Mon May 29, 2023
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By:
DXMS RADYO BIDA
A woman carries as many kalabasa she can after farmers give them for free to anybody in Barnagay Dyes, Alamada. (Kimay Alvares contributed photos)
ALAMADA, North Cotabato - A passerby, Kimay Alvarez, posted photos on her FB page about kalabasa being given for free to anyone in Barangay Campo Dyes here on Monday, May 29.
Five days ago, former Agriculture and former Mindanao Development Authority chair Emmanuel Piñol had this story posted on his Facebook.
Here is the story:
Nag-kalabasa!
Alamada Farmers Give Away Tons Of Kalabasa As Price Drops To P2/Kg.
From a high of P30 per kilo, the buying price of Kalabasa in Alamada, North Cotabato has dropped to only P2/kg.
With that very low buying price, the farmer has to pay the harvesters and haul his to the main highway where 10-Wheel Wing Vans are waiting to bring the Kalabasa to other places where the prices are a bit higher.
Some of the farmers opted to give away the Kalabasa while others opted to just leave this in the field to rot.
"Lugi. P10,000 bili ko ng binhi hindi ko mabawi," Iranun farmer Mitra Butig told me yesterday when I visited his farm in Campo 11, Rangayen, Alamada.
Mitra opted to have his remaining Kalabasa field to be plowed by our tractors so he could try planting Sorghum and Soybeans.
The sad story of farmers like Mitra will be replayed every harvest season for as long as government does not come up with a National Food Supply and Demand Map and no processing facilities are established.
The problem is the fact that our government planners, policy makers and implementors are like the shortsighted Rhinoceros and slow-moving Elephants.
Solution?
We in the private sector should just take the lead.