The high prices of vegetables sold in the market seem to be very alarming especially in an agricultural country like the Philippines. It is an irony to think that Filipinos are buying expensive vegetables in their markets and that imported vegetables are even sold at a lesser price. With the high prices of pesticides and fertilizers, using them on small scale would be more expensive and that is why vegetable products imported are sold at a lower price here in the country is because these vegetables products are cheaper to produce outside the country. What shocked me today is when our professor told us how vegetables are sold at high prices but a Filipino farmer is at the borders of the poverty line.

Organically produced farm products are sold in the market 30-40% higher than the normal selling price of these vegetables. Why? The reason might be the law of supply and demand. There is a great demand for organically produced vegetables but there are only few producers which explains the its high selling market price. For organic farmers who previously employ inorganic practices, they are expected to have a 40% reduce in their farm input. This means that even if a 20% decrease in output may be observed after the transition from inorganic to organic, still, there will be a positive net income. So if this is the scenario, we should be expecting our organic farmers to be wealthy now. Imagine buying organic malunggay (Moringa oleifera) sold at P60 per kilo, Sweet potato tops sold at P40 per kilo and so on. The point is that, organically produced vegetables are high value and it should follow that the farmers should be earning a lot from it.

The question now is, why is it that this scenario cannot be seen in the local farmers? Our professor accounted that when they visited a certain part of the Philippines, he was able to interview an organic farmer that plants carrots. The farmer told our professor how his carrot farming proceeds after harvest. He told that he has to walk at least 2hours to his farm in located in an upland area and comes down to from his farm carrying 40 kilos of carrots on his back. This is how his life is. This did not shock me but what made me stop for a while is upon hearing that they are selling their carrots to the middle men at P5 per kilo. That’s right! they are selling them at 5 pesos per kilo. Even a one day’s worth of unlimited text is more expensive than the organically produced carrots. Then our professor tracked the carrots and found out that these are being sold at Greenbelt during the “Green Day” when organically produced vegetables are sold in markets. The sad thing is that, those carrots bought at P5 per kilo as farm gate price are now being sold at P60 per kilo. And this is very ironic and sad for the part of the farmers. Who gets the benefits? The middle men do.

The majestic rice terraces of the Philippines were made many years ago by the Ifugaos and have been listed as one of the wonders of the world. Terraces were formed from the sloping mountains done manually and were planted with lowland rice. This has become a cultural heritage for the Ifugaos and a pride for the Philippines.

Although it is sad to know that these terraces are not being maintained anymore like it was before. People prefer to leave the mountains and choose to work in the city rather than to cultivate land and produce food for the country. If only this can still become a good source of rice, the country might have not suffered a very expensive price for a kilo of rice. There would have been enough rice served at every Filipino dining table to date. Sadly, even people living near the terraces are suffering rice shortage.

Modernization has made the native farm practices be forgotten. Come to think of it, before, when manual labor was dominant, these terraces were maintained and not a single terrace was neglected. But with the advent of fertilizers and other modernization, it seems that the terraces were not being taken care of by many people. Many prefer to work in lowlands or in the city.

Modern gadgets now alienate people leading to the “uselessness” of these technologies. What worth does an object possess if one does not have any idea on how to use it. Every technology should be accompanied with proper use or guidelines on how to maximize its potential. And besides, not every technology is applicable to everybody. Scientists and engineers should develop technologies that will fit their target market as a whole