Filipino farmers like Romeo Wagayan have been left with little choice but to let their vegetables rot in the field rather than sell them at a loss, as rising oil prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East drive up the cost of harvesting, labour and transport.
"There's nothing we can do," said Wagayan, a 57-year-old vegetable farmer in the northern Philippine province of Benguet. "If we harvest it, our losses only increase because of labour, transportation and packing costs. We don't earn anything from it. That's why we decided not to harvest at all."
Soaring costs caused by the Middle East war are piling pressure on Filipino farmers, with the Southeast Asian archipelago particularly vulnerable to oil shocks because of its heavy reliance on imported fuel.
Wagayan's experience mirrors the challenges faced by many highland farmers, according to Agot Balanoy, an adviser at La Trinidad's vegetable trading hub.
Read more at South China Morning Post
