Vegetables

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations (FAO) recommends consuming 400 grams of vegetables per day, but Filipinos only consume one-third of this. The Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST) cited the high cost of fruits and vegetables, high spoilage of these goods, and the lack of information on their benefits as reasons for the low consumption.

In response, the Department of Agriculture High-Value Crops Unit is implementing the Gulayan sa Barangay and Gulayan sa Paaralan initiatives which aim to promote community sourcing of fruits and vegetables to increase consumption.

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Activities

• The Vegetables Working Group has identified increasing the per capita consumption of vegetables in the country through information and education campaigns, as well as developing more efficient distribution channels as the priority area for collaboration.
   

• Members are also exploring digital solutions to create a shared database of farmers by area and types of vegetables grown. Under the leadership of East-West Seed, the Working Group is aligning itself with the Philippine Seed Industry Association’s mission to provide high-quality seeds and relevant technologies to farmers to raise their capacities and develop Philippine’s agriculture.
   

• The Vegetables Working Group is actively working on plant trials to solve the issues of supply and quality. Companies are looking for specific requirements for their vegetable supply while East-West Seed modifies seeds based on these requirements.
   

• In 2019, PPSA, East-West Seeds and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), initiated a conversation with the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) to provide private sector assistance for the implementation of the National Fall Armyworm Action Plan – to tackle a highly destructive pest that has only recently (late 2019) emerged in the Philippines.