Vegetables in Benguet

The Spanish introduced cabbages and potatoes to the Cordillera well before they had established political control. Potts (1983) argues for two separate potato disseminations, the first in the late 1600s or early 1700s, and the second, linked to Benguet's first Spanish governor, Bias de Bafios, in the nineteenth century. The southern Cordillerans readily adopted both cabbages and potatoes for their door-yard gardens. Both crops were casually traded among Igorot communities and some produce was sold in nearby lowland

market towns (Perez 1902:118); as early as the 1860s, Benguet potatoes appeared in the Manila market (Scott 1974:239).