Philippine Daily Inquirer Digital Edition

Frost won’t disrupt veggie supply from Cordillera, DA assures public

By Kimberlie Quitasol @kquitasolINQ

CITY—The Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Cordillera has assured the public that the reported frost occurrences this month in Benguet and Mountain Province would not affect the supply of temperate vegetables grown in the two provinces.

“While minimal damages are recorded in the ongoing monitoring of the LGUs (local government units), these are not evident and do not affect the supply of vegetables in the trading centers, hence, the vegetable supply remains stable,” the DA said in a statement on Friday.

Despite the reported minimal damages, the High Value Crops Development Program of DA Cordillera was still closely monitoring the frost situation with the partner LGUs in the Cordillera, which supplies most of the salad vegetables sold in Metro Manila.

According to the DA, they received reports of frost, locally called “andap,” in Balicanao, Sadsadan, Mt. Data, Pactil and Monamon Sur in Bauko, Mountain Province, apart from those reported in Benguet.

Yearly phenomenon

The agency further said that frost is a yearly phenomenon in several communities in higher elevations of Benguet and Mountain Province at this time of the year when the temperature in these areas drop to a single digit.

The lowest temperature recorded this month in Mountain Province was 2 degrees Celsius on Jan. 26, which caused frost to form again on Mt. Pulag, Luzon’s highest peak. Frost was first photographed this year on Mt. Pulag on Jan. 24 but the temperature then was still 11.2 degrees Celsius.

“The historical data of DACAR (Cordillera Administrative Region) shows that frost presence in the region is particu

larly experienced in the higher parts of Atok, Buguias, Kibungan and Mankayan municipalities in Benguet and Bauko in Mountain Province usually during the months of December, January and February,” the DA added.

Being an annual phenomenon, farmers have learned to adapt to it.

Farmers from these towns have also posted photographs of frost-covered crops on their social media accounts.

Pj Haight, a farmer from Paoay village in Atok, posted photos of the frost that formed on his flower garden early morning Thursday. He also posted a live video of the temperature reading in his field, showing that the mercury has dropped to “zero degrees Celsius” at 7 a.m. of that day.

Haight, in an online interview on Friday, said it was the fifth frost occurrence this January in their village. Haight said the frost usually forms in a specific area of their farming village.

“It is just a small area, around 3,000 square meters,” he explained in an online chat with the Inquirer.

According to him, they planted carrots and radish at the “frost area” because they can survive the extreme cold.

Little Alaska

Frederick Liw-an, from Sitio (subvillage) Nalicob, Barangay Madaymen, in Kibungan town of Benguet, also posted on social media on Thursday the photos of frost occurrence in his village.

Liw-an, in a separate online chat on Friday, said this was the first he knew of this year but he added that frost would usually happen in their village in January.

The cold temperature in their village earned it the moniker, Little Alaska, he said.

According to Liw-an, no crops were damaged in their sitio because they were still preparing the land for planting.

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2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

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Philippine Daily Inquirer