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February 8, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is spending around P300 million this year to expand climate-resilient production of vegetables, including tomatoes, chili and bell peppers, to curb recurring price spikes in the market caused by weather-related supply disruptions.
The DA said the budget would be used to support basic greenhouses, drip irrigation and water-impounding systems to ensure appropriate crop management and reduce farmers’ exposure to increasingly volatile weather.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said these crops suffer sharp price swings almost every year as extreme heat, heavy rains and flooding disrupt production.
“This is a perennial problem — sometimes chili peppers are very expensive, sometimes there is no supply at all; the same goes for bell peppers and tomatoes,” Tiu Laurel said.
“What we want is continuous production, year-round whether it’s dry or rainy,” he added.
The DA is working with cooperatives and farmer groups rather than individual farmers in implementing its high-value crop program. It will begin with organizing production at the community level where local seed and seedlings production is established to technically equip women and youth to make planting materials readily available in a structurally coordinated and decentralized manner.
The DA aims to generate “stable” volumes that can reliably supply major urban markets and dampen the boom-and-bust cycles of the crops that hurt both farmers and consumers.
Instead of rolling out costly, high-tech facilities, the DA said it would deploy rain shelters and simpler greenhouse structures to provide partial protection from various weather disturbances and make it a viable business model. These facilities protect crops from heavy rainfall, reduce flood risks and pest damage, enabling more efficient water use through drip irrigation and misting systems, making them easier to replicate across farming communities.
“The objective is to keep producing even during El Niño or La Niña,” Tiu Laurel said.
“With irrigation during dry months and cover during heavy rains, farmers are able to adapt with the changing weather conditions and are effectively able to plan their production based on market demand,” Tiu Laurel added.
Rain shelters, greenhouses and irrigation systems will be located near — though outside — major consumption centers such as Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao to shorten delivery time and cut post-harvest losses, the DA said.
For the Metro Manila market, the DA is eyeing nearby provinces including Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Laguna, Rizal and Quezon for the program.
The DA will kickstart the program in selected pilot municipalities with the Food Terminal Inc. committing to buy the farmers’ harvest at pre-agreed prices. The arrangement is meant to give farmers income security while the system is being established, the DA said.
“If we ask a community to plant chili or bell pepper, whatever they produce will be bought at a fair price,” Tiu Laurel said, adding that the government will handle distribution to public markets.
At present, the country has only about 500 hectares of greenhouse-covered farms nationwide, compared with roughly 52,000 hectares in South Korea, the DA said.
Tiu Laurel said reaching 5,000 hectares by 2027 would already be a major step forward.
“If this proves successful and farmers earn from it, they will push for its continuation and scale up the system —even under the next administration,” he said.
The DA said it is also building a network of cold storage to extend the shelf life of highly perishable vegetables and provide small-scale vegetables processing facilities to reduce food loss and provide additional revenue stream for farmers in a sustainable manner.
