Roger Gualberto, program Executive Director of the First National Vegetable Marketing Summit, said the daily requirement of the city reaches 288, 000 tons sourced out from Calinan and Marilog Districts, and the nearby Kapatagan, Davao del Sur.

The summit will be on April 22-23 at the Davao Trade and Convention Center.

Gualberto said vegetables usually ran out of the major markets, or malls which is the cause of price fluctuation. "Davao City can't supply the very need of the city," he added.

He said extensive monocropping is among the factors which could be blamed for the declining interest in planting vegetables, pointing to the aggressive expansion of banana plantations as detrimental to vegetable industry in the long run.

"If we continue with this practice we will soon buy our vegetables from other provinces," he added.

He said while banana companies earn dollars in exports, it does not ensure food sufficiency for the domestic market.

Gualberto, who has a vegetable farm in Kapatagan, said the lack of area for vegetable production would also force vegetable farmers to utilize protected areas. He said the vegetable farmers near his farm practice kaingin (slash and burn) at the foot of Mt. Apo to plant their crops.

Gualberto said they have raised this concern to Councilor Conde Baluran, chair of the committee on agriculture so that agricultural lands would be given attention as the city is in the process of revising the Zoning Ordinace.

But Val Turtur, Secretary of the Board said they are not just advocating vegetable production but organic vegetable production.

He said the Gulayan sa Barangay, in its 5th year, and is backed by the city government is among the pioneering projects which has been bannering this advocacy.

"The organic production is very easy to control," he said, adding that anybody can engage into it because of the low cost although it is considered more laborious.