A two-day convention here starting Thursday is looking to link farmers from this highly urbanized city with hotels, restaurants and other establishments as their market.

City Agriculturist Iñigo Garingalao said the first Farmer’s Congress, organized by the local government and More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) and participated by farmer leaders, was conceptualized to raise awareness that Iloilo City still has agricultural areas.

“We want to revive talks on how our high-end hotels and restaurants can get their ingredients directly from our farmers,” he said in an interview.

He said among the challenges they need to tackle are the volume and quality of products, payment schemes and delivery, among others.

“The result that we would like to happen is, of course, it will add to their livelihood, it will afford us fresher vegetables,” Garingalao said.

This initiative will also guide the City Agriculturist Office and the Department of Agriculture on the kind of intervention they should provide.

Iloilo City has close to 250 hectares of farming area, planted with either rice or vegetables or both, or into integrated farming.

More than 200 of the over 500 farmers in the city are into vegetable farming. The number of vegetable farmers increases at the onset of summer or “ber” months.

MORE Power chief operating officer Paul Almedilla, in his message, cited the thriving and growing agricultural sector in the city.

He said that their support for farmers began during their early days, starting with seed donations.

“Through the linkage of farmers like the Iloilo Hotels, Restaurants and Resorts Association, we hope to build together a stronger farm-to-table linkage and be able to assist and contribute in sustaining Iloilo City’s distinction as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy,” he said.

The gathering coincided with the regular Merkado Lokal, a venue where local farmers sell their produce twice a month. (PNA)