03/06/2026
| ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ: ๐๐๐๐โ๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง
For years, vegetable farmers in the highlands faced the same challenge after every harvest: fluctuating prices, finding buyers, transporting produce to distant markets, and waiting for payments that often took time to arrive. For small-scale farmers with only a few hundred kilograms of vegetables to sell, the journey to the market could be as difficult as growing the crops themselves.
In Balili, Mankayan, Benguet, however, farmers are finding a different path. The establishment of a consolidation center has changed more than just the way vegetables are marketedโit has strengthened livelihoods, expanded market opportunities, and brought farming communities closer together.
Through the Highland Vegetable Consolidation and Marketing Enterprise subproject implemented under the Department of Agriculture โ Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP), the Bosigan Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BMPC) established a consolidation center where vegetables harvested from farms across the community are gathered and delivered to institutional buyers across North Luzon.
โGreenhouse jay first nga proposed tayo, ngem idi habang magmagna jay proposal, kasla haan mabenepisyaran amin dagiti members (our initial proposal was to establish greenhouses, but we later realized that this would not benefit all of our members),โ recalled BMPC Chairperson Liby Ngaseo. โIsunga napanunot mi nga mas mayat daytoy consolidation tapno at least usaren mi, usaren ti community, mabenepisyaran amin (so we decided to establish a consolidation center that could be used by the whole community).โ
The cooperative envisioned a system where even farmers with smaller harvests could access larger markets.
โMai-consolidate kuma amin nga nateng ta ti nateng ti babasit nga farmers ket sagabasit metlang mapan 200 kilos, karkaro dagitoy nateng ti solo parents nga haan maka trabaho ti nalawlawa (we wanted to consolidate the produce of all our members, especially small-scale farmers and solo parents with limited harvests),โ added BMPC Manager Wegina Lodias.
Under the system, vegetables from farmers are gathered at the consolidation center before being transported to the market. This approach has streamlined marketing and reduced the burden on individual farmers.
โNi co-op, bayadan na nga d***s in cash jay nateng ni farmer, higher price pay ken maka free da pay ijay trucking na (the cooperative pays farmers immediately upon delivery, offers better prices, and provides free transportation),โ shared Lodias.
Formally turned over to BMPC on June 4, 2024, the consolidation center now serves as a vital link between farmers and consumers, allowing the cooperative to market produce directly to major buyers while ensuring better returns for its members.
โTi mangmangyari itadta ket naka direct en from farmers to consumers ta naawanen dagijay in between. Ada laengen ti tallo nga actors i-compare mo idi nga ada ti sangapulo nga actors ijay panag-ilako ti nateng. Nagbenefit ni consumer ken ni farmer โ medyo nginmato ti income ni farmer, mayat met jay nateng nga naala ni consumer (there are only three actors in the value chain now, unlike before when there were about ten intermediaries involved. Both farmers and consumers benefit),โ Lodias continued.
Beyond improving market efficiency, the benefits of the consolidation center are best measured not in kilograms of vegetables sold, but in the opportunities, it has created for their families.
โNalag-anan kami sinay inmayan din co-op mi tan i-urnong mi amin din mula mi sa et alaen din ay nay co-op mi et da ida metlang mangilako ed Manila (the cooperative has made things easier for us by marketing our produce in Manila) shared Dominga Ngaseo, BMPC member.
โAt least nalag-an din iyat mi ay man mula, iyat mi ay man ilako sin mula mi (we can now plant and market our produce with ease),โ she added.
Expressing the same, Apina Bantasan also a member of BMPC, shared that there has been an improvement in their income because they are now able to sell all their produce with the help of the consolidation center.
โHaan kamin nga ag kana ut-utang, wada met di pampa iskwela mid annak mi, wada ed pay din FX mi (we no longer have to borrow money from time to time. We are able to send our children to school, and we were even able to buy our own FX service vehicle), shared Bantasan.
The benefits extend beyond active farming households. According to Ngaseo, the consolidation center has also generated employment opportunities for mothers and senior citizens who are no longer able to cultivate large farms, allowing them to earn additional income through packing and support work.
โIdi ada daytoy building, mayat ta nanayunan jay income ti cooperative ken mas linmawa pay ti market mi (with the establishment of this center, the cooperativeโs income increased and its market reach expanded), BOD Chair Ngaseo said.
Lodias added that the trust of their fellow farmers has been strengthened as well as the financial capacity of their cooperative.
โThe more nga ag iyeg da ti nateng da ditoy, the more met nga ada maconsolidate, the more met nga dumakdakel ti income da metlang (the more produce they deliver, the more vegetables we consolidate, and consequently, the more their income increases), said Lodias.
In the coming years, they envision the expansion of the cooperativeโs services to benefit more farmers and for it to be sustained.
While the cooperative continues to pursue growth and expanded services, its greatest measure of success remains the lives it has touched within the community.
โSapay kuma ta man tultuloy ladta adi sin consolidation ta mayat met ay pan income-an mi ay farmers isunga sapay kuma adi. Ikarkararag mi nga agtultuloy ti biyag din consolidation ay doy (we hope that this consolidation system will continue because it truly helps us earn a living. We pray for its sustainability so that the consolidation center will continue for a long time), expressed Bantasan. # # # (Elvy T. Estacio, RPCO CAR InfoACE Unit)
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๐ฅ Weโre featuring Bosigan MPCโs Highland Vegetable Consolidation and Marketing Enterprise, two years after turnover.
See how far theyโve come since June 4, 2024. Watch the story unfold on June 4, 2026!
