DA still looking into cause of spike in onion prices

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday said it is still looking into the cause of the spike in prices of red onions for the past weeks.

According to DA Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista, monitoring activities found that some sellers have hiked prices to up to P300 per kilogram.

“Ngayon po kami ay nakikipag-ugnayan sa Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) para makita po natin ang supply situation, para makita po natin ang kadahilanan ng pag-spike ng presyo,” she said during a public briefing.

(We are currently coordinating with the Bureau of Plant Industry to see the supply situation and to determine the reason for the spike in prices.)

Data from the DA show that prices of local red onion averaged P280 per kilogram in Metro Manila markets last Friday, November 25, unchanged from the same day in the previous week.

This compares with the P250 per kilogram recorded two weeks earlier on November 11, and P180 per kilogram seen on October 25.

Asked about the current supply situation, Evangelista said the agency is still waiting for the report of the BPI based on inventories in cold storage facilities.

She said farmers expect to start harvesting in December, with some saying they are scheduled to do so in the second week and some set for the last week of the month.

“Ngayon po ang tinitignan natin kung gaano kalaki ang kanilang volume na iha-harvest dahil ito po ay makakatulong sa pagdagdag ng ating supply,” she said.

“Alam naman po natin na 'pag nadagdagan ang ating supply, ‘yan po ay makakatulong sa pagbaba ng presyo at sa price stability more than anything po,” she added.

(We are now looking at the volume to be harvested because this will help in boosting supply. We know that if supply is increased, this will help in lowering prices and for price stability more than anything.)

Evangelista said the DA is also still in the process of coordinating the schedule of harvest for white onions, which is the main need of institutional buyers.

“Meron na po tayong inaasahan na harvest ng ating mga onion farmer ng puting sibuyas so titignan lang po natin kung kailan po ang kanilang harvest,” she said.

“Tayo ay nakikipag-ugnayan sa kanila para ang ating datos ay hindi lamang po nanggagaling from our food supply outlook but galing po mismo sa ating magsasaka,” she added.

(We are already expecting a harvest from the white onion farmers so we will just see when this will be. We are coordinating with them so the data will not only be coming from our food supply outlook but from the farmers themselves.)

Moving forward, Evangelista said consumers can purchase red onions at P170 per kilogram from outlets of Kadiwa or the “Katuwang sa Diwa at Gawa para sa Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita.”—AOL, GMA Integrated News