LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — PJ Haight has taken to siphoning diesel from his vehicle into a water pump that will irrigate the family’s farmland these days, as prices of fuel and other inputs soar, straining available fuel supply and agricultural yields in Benguet.
Haight and other upland vegetable growers in Atok, a third-class municipality in the province, customarily buy diesel in containers for their irrigation pumps and other equipment. But with fuel supply in some local stations now limited due to the war in the Middle East, they fill up the tanks of their vehicles from which they draw fuel to feed the pumps.
The situation becomes dire when diesel is hardly available in Atok, forcing farmers to travel about 40 kilometers to the capital town of La Trinidad to buy the fuel.
“We need the pumps especially in this summer season to water our crops,” Haight said.
Diesel prices have doubled in La Trinidad, from about ₱60 per liter to ₱120, spiking agricultural production costs at the start of the dry season.
According to Haight, irrigating one hectare of farmland requires around 30 liters of diesel in a week. For their 10-hectare farm, the weekly fuel requirement has become a significant expense.
Other farm inputs
The costs of other farm inputs have also swelled. For example, a 50-kilo sack of chicken dung, commonly used as fertilizer for vegetable farms in Benguet, now costs around ₱280, up from ₱150 to ₱200. Cabbage farms typically need about 200 sacks of chicken dung per hectare for every cropping period.
Despite the climbing costs, farmgate prices remain low. Cabbage currently sells for only ₱4 to ₱7 per kilo, leaving farmers struggling to recover their expenses.
Haight’s cabbage crop is about a month old. He said he hopes that prices will improve in time for harvest in about three months.
Some farmers are delaying harvest in anticipation of better prices, according to Haight. “If your harvest is one ton and below, it’s better not to sell,” he said, adding that a ton may fetch only ₱4,000 to ₱7,000 at current prices.
Rey Luis, president of the Association of Vegetable Dealers and Farmers at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post, said rising fuel costs have also reduced the number of delivery trips to Metro Manila. From about 15 trucks transporting vegetables to the Balintawak market in Quezon City, only 8 to 10 trucks are now operating, he said.
A 10-wheel truck consumes 250 to 300 liters of diesel for a round trip, translating to ₱24,000 to ₱36,000 in fuel expenses at current prices. That’s roughly double the previous costs.
To offset expenses, Luis said, transporters have negotiated a ₱0.50 per kilo increase in hauling rates, but this has led to a decline in orders.
Multiple transport costs
Luis pointed out that farmers shoulder multiple transport costs, including ₱1 per kilo from farms to roadside pick-up points, ₱2 to ₱3 per kilo to the trading post, and about ₱2 per kilo for shipment to Metro Manila.
“It is easier for those who have their own vehicles,” he said. “But those who have to hire naturally spend more.”
Truckers incur additional expenses, such as for food, toll, and other charges during trips.
Luis said the demand for vegetables has weakened despite the approach of Holy Week, a period that typically sees increased consumption because of the required abstinence from meat among Catholics.
Even tourism-related income has declined in Atok, said Haight, who runs a small inn for visitors drawn by the area’s cool climate and frost season. “Our five-room transient is usually full on weekends leading up to Holy Week, but now only a few rooms are occupied,” he said.
Still, Haight said, most of the farmers in Atok continue to plant and hope for better farmgate prices come harvest because farming is their only means of livelihood. CS
Read more: Blood and oil: Iran’s war against empire and what it means for the Philippines
