DAVAO CITY – At least 40 metric tons of different kinds of vegetables from Southern Mindanao were shipped to Metro Manila daily through the country’s Roll-on-Roll-off (RoRo) transport system to patch up the vegetable shortage at the National Capital Region (NCR).

This was bared recently by Melani A. Provido, the regional coordinator of the High-Value Commercial Crops (HVCC) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region 11.

Provido said that these vegetables consist of squash and other hard type vegetables such as carrots, upo, eggplant, string beans, ampalaya and sayote, among others.

At present, Luzon is experiencing problems on the supply of vegetables after typhoon “Pepeng” struck the vegetable producing areas in Mountain Province, Provido said, adding that they are preparing for every opportunity of maximizing production in Region 11.

Through the HVCC’s Vegetable Production Enhancement Program, Provido said they have distributed various vegetable seeds good for planting in the region’s vegetable cluster areas consisting of 3,000 hectares in the provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte and Davao City.

At the Davao International Airport here, some 100 metric tons of fresh vegetables and fruits are airlifted daily by Philippine Airlines to Metro Manila, it was learned recently.