PHOTO REPORT: Bulua Vegetable Landing

The counterpart to the farmers' market at J.R. Borja Extention in the evening hours, is the vegetable landing in the district (barangay) of Bulua, right next to the bus station for destinations in western Mindanao.

This is the wholesale market where vegetable vendors buy up farm produce by the truckload from farmers and farms in the area. These are producers from the municipality of Claveria in Misamis Oriental province and also from far away, from Bukidnon province. Producers from Bukidnon province have the choice of bringing their products to Cagayan de Oro or also to Davao.

The individual wholesalers often specialise in just one type of vegetable and sell to retailers in the various markets in the city and towns in the surrounding areas. They also ship much of the produce to Cebu and sometimes even to Manila.

There are many busy hands unloading, counting, packing and reloading here.

This is where the bulk buyers come for their kitchens in restaurants, canteens and probably also from the supermarkets.

When we wanted to buy a small quantity today, we couldn't, the offers were only bundles in sacks, boxes or cartons. On the other side of the same market, a few weeks ago, we were also offered the products by the kilo, at an only slightly higher price.

Not all the agricultural produce that is bought up finds its way to customers and onto the tables of the population. A large part of the produce goes bad, withers, rots and has to be destroyed, as you can see in the next two photos.

It is a great pity for the once fresh produce.