By By Zac B. Sarian
Casili is the barangay in Laoag City where you will find the vegetable growers. It is also a Hall of Fame winner in the Clean and Green project of the city.
The vegetable growers cultivate just 1 to 1.5 hectares each but they earn enough for their families’ upkeep. Some grow cabbage, pechay, okra, and several other crops.
Roberto Patricio usually plants 50 grams of cabbage seeds worth P750 each time, which translates to 5,000 seedlings. Two months after transplanting, the crop is harvested. Each cabbage head weighs 750 grams to 1 kilo. And usually, buyers pay P30 per kilo. There are times, however, when there is an oversupply and the price goes down.
After a typhoon, the price goes up too. After the latest typhoon that hit Laoag, for instance, Patricio sold his okra at P35 per kilo. Normally, the price is P10 per kilo.
This appeared in Agriculture Monthly’s January 2014 issue.Â
