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Korean strawberries won't saturate PH market, official says amid local farmers' concerns

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ABS-CBN News

MANILA— Some 16.98 metric tons of Korean strawberries legally imported into the country cannot saturate the market, an agriculture official said Wednesday after farmers in Baguio reported lower sales of local strawberries because buyers prefer Korean strawberries.&quot;Dumaan naman po ito sa proseso, actually 2008 pa po nag-apply ng market access ang Korea para sa exportation ng kanilang strawberries dito sa atin, at ngayon lang po siyang taon na-approve, noong November 15,&quot; Bureau of Plant Industry Director George Culaste told TeleRadyo. (They went through the process after applying for market access in 2008. They completed it and got approval on November 15.)Dr. Culaste added that local strawberries are priced much lower than the imported Korean ones and are more affordable to the public at P200-300 per kilo.Korean strawberries sell for about P3,000 per kilo and are usually intended for higher-end markets such as hotels and Korean groceries that cater to Korean nationals, said Culaste. The DA said it will look into the reported increase in supply of imported Korean strawberries in Cebu, with the help of the Bureau of Customs.Meanwhile, Culaste also said that the bureau has begun working with research centers and met with strawberry farmers in Baguio to help them produce more competitive strawberries.&quot;Napag-alaman namin during our meeting &#x27;yung lack of clean planting materials. We have come up with a solution na the BPI will produce quality clean planting materials, na ito ang magagamit ng farmers, in such a way na maging competitive ang kanilang strawberries,&quot; he said.(We found out that there is a lack of clean planting materials, so the BPI will produce these for the farmers to use and produce more competitive strawberries.)In exchange for the Korean strawberries market access, Filipino okra farmers have exported over 21 metric tons of okra to Korea since March this year. <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1871248" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Some 16.98 metric tons of Korean strawberries legally imported into the country cannot saturate the market, an agriculture official said Wednesday.