The 2025 National Vegetable Congress will put Western Visayas in the spotlight, particularly pushing Iloilo as a multi-agricultural food hub.

The three-day event set from Nov. 5 to 7 in the Municipality of Barotac Nuevo is organized by the Panay Organization for Progressive Agriculture (POPA) Agriculture Cooperative in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA). It aims to gather around 1,500 participants across the country.

POPA Agriculture Cooperative chair Larry Nacionales said on Friday that Iloilo is a multi-commodity province, and one of the significant legacies they would like to establish after the congress is for Iloilo to be a multi-agricultural food hub of Western Visayas.

“It is a very aggressive ambition, but if we help each other, we will work together, I think we can make Iloilo the food hub of Western Visayas,” he said during the launch held at The Avenue in Mandurriao district here.

DA Regional Technical Director for Operations, Ma. Teresa Solis said Western Visayas does not have a sufficient supply of vegetables, with supplies sourced from Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro, and Benguet.

She hoped that the congress would open the minds of farmers and consumers to a healthy lifestyle, for them to eat vegetables.

She recommended that the conference include a topic on health and wellness.

Nacionales said the region has a 20 to 30 percent capacity to provide, and the rest are sourced outside.

“This congress, we will invite local government units to send their farmers to attend to see the market,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nacionales said there will be a regional action planning workshop where they hope to have a unified Vegetable Industry Roadmap.

He said there is a need to revisit laws that support the industry and review the old roadmap.

“I hope this congress will serve as an awakening, shifting the minds of our policymakers to look into the aspect of how the vegetable industry is important in our agricultural economy,” he said.

Participants can visit selected farms, showcasing agricultural innovations, in Iloilo for hands-on learning.

The gathering anchors on the “Innovative. Resilient. Sustainable. Market-Ready: Revitalizing the Vegetable Industry for a Food-Secure Bagong Pilipinas.” (PNA)