Flowers, veggies more expensive but quality is poor

Vendors at the Freedom Park observe that flowers are of lower quality, but they are priced higher as a result of the extreme heat. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

BECAUSE of the intense heat, the quality of cut flowers and vegetables produced in Cebu has deteriorated while their prices have gone up.

Plant growth is stunted while the cut flowers easily wilt and their stalks are shorter, said Cebu City Agriculturist Joelito Baclayon.

Prices of flowers have gone up by P5 to P20 per dozen, while vegetables are more expensive by P5 to P10 per kilo as farmers have to spend more for water to keep their plants from wilting, Baclayon added.

He said the City Agriculture Department is going to request the Cebu City Council to use P30 million from the disaster fund for the purchase of hoses, water pumps, fertilizers and other assistance that may be distributed to the affected farmers.

Gloria Cabase, a flower shop owner at Carbon Public Market, said she usually gets her supply from Barangay Busay, Cebu City, but now sources some from Cagayan de Oro or Baguio.

She said the chrysanthemum she bought in Cebu withered after just one day while those from Baguio lasted a week.

Cabase said she does not mind paying a higher price for the flowers as long as the quality is good.

“Kung naay mga special orders kanang misa, kasal, adto ko kuha sa mga buwak nga gikan sa laing syudad. Mas nindot man gud og quality (But if there are special orders for a Mass or wedding, I get my supply from other cities because their flowers are of better quality),” she said.

Baclayon said flower and vegetable farmers in the upland barangays now use more water for their crops because of the prevailing dry spell.

Lorna Sukib, 48, a farmer from Barangay Adlaon, Cebu City, said she uses up to six barrels of water a day. A barrel costs P100.

“Init gyud kaayo mamatay ang pananom kung dili gyud nimo hatagan og tubig. Pasagdan na nimo sa init mangadaot gyud na (It is too hot our crops will surely die if we do not water them),” she said.

Sukib owns a small parcel of land of about 25 square meters, on which she plants sweet corn, chayote and tomatoes. Her plants have survived the searing heat so far.

“Madala pa man ang init. Makatanom-tanom pa ta pero dili gyud dagko ilabi na ang sweet corn. Karon madala pa nga kami mopalit sa tubig (The heat is still bearable. We are still able to plant but growth is stunted, especially the sweet corn. We are still able to buy water),” she said.

Some vegetable vendors also source their supplies outside Cebu, such as Iloilo and Davao.

Because vendors have to source their vegetables from other cities or provinces, Baclayon said the prices have gone up by at least P5 to P10 per kilo.

“Mapugos gyud ko og palit kay wala na gyud laing kakuhaan (We are forced to buy from outside Cebu),” said Chona Mangubat, who owns a vegetable stall in Carbon.

She said the quality of vegetables grown in Cebu is “not that good” and she ends up incurring losses instead of making a profit.