City of San Fernando, Pampanga—A big volume of okra (lady finger) has been exported to Japan by Tarlac farmers in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, apparently to fill up the huge market and demand for such vegetable fruit.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar led the first batch of okra export during simple rites at Pairpags Center, Airport Road, Pasay City Tuesday.
Okra produce by Tarlac farmers is of good quality and enough to cover the high demand of such kind of vegetable.
Two tons of okra export have been harvested from different farms of Tarlac including 14 barangays in Victoria, Balayang, Palacpalac, Batang Batang, Lalapac, Mayang, San Pascual, Villa Bacolor, Matayumtayum, San Jose, San Manuel, Balingcanaway, Cutcut, and Lapaz.
The okra plantation involved 300 farmers led by young farmer entrepreneurs Jeffrey Fernandez and Rap Pelayo of Jel Farms.
“As other business sectors continue to bleed on account of an economic slowdown due to this COVID-19 pandemic, we are blessed to have a sustained activity on the agri-industry front,” said Dar.
Fernandez and Pelayo told reporters that okra famers could earn up to P90,000 to P100,000 net of expenses per hectare.
Same goes with another in-demand agricultural product for Japan – edamame, also known as vegetable soybean. Both products are in demand in the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya in Japan.
Harvesting schedules are from September to July, while planting can be done all year round.
Farmers are targeting 900 to 1,000 hectares for the expansion project for okra plantation for export.
Dar said okra farmers’ profit could easily reach up to P120,000 per hectare for both okra and edamame if the farmers could avail themselves of a cold storage, which he assured the farmers’ group, would be prioritized by his office.
“Under my watch, I assure you that the Department of Agriculture will extend all the assistance we can give to every farmer, including the group involved in this okra-edamame exportation to Japan, to enhance our agricultural production, and in the process, advance the livelihood of our farmers,” said Dar.