THE multi-faceted issue of price control especially in crops and fisheries may be responded to, but it would need multiple approaches.
This surfaced as Department of Agriculture (DA), the Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) and the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPV) laid down their current initiatives at finally trying to shake the lofty prices of Bohol farm-based and marine based commodities off its perch.
Apart from blaming the predicament to everyone who failed in contributing to ease the problem: from failure of backyard gardening to climate, the DA admits much is rooted from the so much demand where the supply is really little.
Speaking during the recent Capitol Reports attended by Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Larry Pamugas and Provincial Veterinarian Stella Marie Lapiz, DA Assistant Secretary and lawyer Salvador Diputado proposes a buy-back scheme by Local Government Units (LGU).
Buy-back-scheme means the government buys all the catch or harvest, and facilitates its sale, with minimal profit.
Past investigations on the steep price of fish and marine products in Bohol revealed that, without reliable cold storage facilities and other means to be assured of good money for a day’s catch, fishermen would rather sell their catch to Cebu, spending more fuel, because Cebu markets, even if they buy cheap, buys in bulk.
With the buy-back-scheme, the DA official encourages towns where resources are taken and sold elsewhere, to rather buy the catch, to have control over their resources.
We have talked with Mayors Rene Borenaga of Bien Unido and Janet Garcia of Talibon to explore the possibility of the buy-back scheme, Diputado told Capitol Reports.
This scheme, he said, eliminates middlemen and traders who put in their cut on top of each sale, compounding the sales price.
He said, when the traded fish in Bohol often pass through many hands, it also means its price increases, some even record a hundred pesos more than the original price when bought.
By this, LGUs can add a bit to the buying price, but still, it comes out cheaper, he stressed.
As for LGUs, once they buy the catch, they can put it in a storage facility after blast-freezing, to properly preserve the freshness, he added.
But, without the cold storage facility, there are plenty of creative ways to dispose of the products.
In Jagna, under Mayor Joseph Rañola, for example, the LGU buys farm products and then puts them on credit to local employees, this way farmers do not lose and the LGU is assured of the pay with a little of profit, reported Bern Condor, information Officer.
If we allow the farmers to do the marketing, transporting it adds up to the cost, and when it reaches the market, there is a huge possibility that the bulk delivery floods the supply chain, pulling the prices down, he added.
Even then, the DA official admitted there is a huge need for supply, the government’s fish cage projects which is momentarily sidelined for other priorities, is contributing to the problem.
Diputado also suggested fish farming, but includes offshore and inland fish farming, to keep up with the demand, which when met, could pull prices down. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
