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CEBU CITY, Philippines – A pro-active approach to food security is needed in these days of high rice prices and even higher fuel costs in the country.
“You have very good soil (in Cebu). It is really not a problem. You can grow vegetables anywhere. You also have perfect weather so you can plant any time of the year,” said Natalia Becherer, managing director of Seedbase Inc.
Seedbase Inc. is a wholesale distributor of vegetable seeds, horticultural items, tools and packaging materials for the Visayas namely Cebu, Bohol, Panay, Leyte, Samar and Negros.
With their advocacy of rural development through vegetable farming, Becherer said they have established a door-to-door delivery mechanism and have taken full advantage of the existing roll-in, roll-off system.
What is lacking is the advocacy to promote vegetable farming in the countryside and making materials available for local farmers, she said.
“In every single corner, people should start growing vegetables professionally. In the rural areas, there is not much knowledge of vegetable farming unlike coconut, abaca and rice,” she told Cebu Daily News.
Becherer said backyard vegetables will sell well because there is no other reliable vegetable production in the province except in Mantalungon, Dalaguete town.
“In the Philippines at present, 40 to 45 kilos of vegetables are consumed by one person per year. That's still far from the Philippine government's consumption target of 70 kilos per head per year.”
She cited Japan as a high consumer of vegetables with each person consuming at least 100 kilos of vegetables annually.
Becherer, a German urban and land use planner, established the company in 1998 after seeing the potential of selling seeds at lower prices.
Her husband, Martin who works with her in Seedbase, is an agriculturist.
Becherer said the company is sensitive to the needs of local dealers.
Vegetable seeds of tomato, eggplant, cabbage and watermelon are sold as low as P35 per pouch.
Each pouch contains between 30 and 200 seeds depending on the vegetable. /Reporter Chris Evert B. Lato
