Prices of Benguet vegetables seen to drop once weather normalizes —SINAG

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) on Sunday said that prices of vegetables coming from Benguet are expected to decrease once the weather in the province becomes normal.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, SINAG chairperson Rosendo So said that there have been slight increases in vegetable prices in the past weeks due to the start of the rainy season in the country.

“‘Yung presyo naman, ‘yung pagtaas ay hindi naman ganu'n kalaki... ‘Yung cabbage, mga P5 per kilo. Itong carrots, P3 to P4 lang sa Benguet,” he said.

(The price increase is not that big. The cost of cabbage increased only by about P5 pesos per kilo, while carrots in Benguet increased by only P3 to P4.)

“Ang tingin naman natin, baka mag-normalize naman ito these few weeks kapag nag-normalize ang weather natin,” he added.

(We think the prices will normalize in a few weeks when our weather normalizes as well.)

Based on the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) latest price monitoring, among highland vegetables, cabbages cost P70 to P120 per kilo; carrots for P60 to P120 per kilo; baguio beans for P80 to P120 per kilo; white potato for P90 to P130 per kilo; pechay baguio for P60 to P100 per kilo; and sayote for P40 to P80 per kilo.

Among lowland vegetables, meanwhile, ampalaya costs P60 to P120 per kilo; string beans for P70 to P120 per kilo; pechay tagalog for P60 to P120 per kilo; squash for P25 to P60 per kilo; eggplant for P50 to P100 per kilo; and tomato for P35 to P70 per kilo.

By the end of May, several farmers in La Trinidad, Benguet were forced to harvest their crops early due to the rains brought about by Typhoon Betty to avoid spoilage.

The DA-Cordillera earlier advised farmers to do forced harvest due to the threat of Betty. The agency said supplies of highland vegetables remain sufficient as there are currently 2,287 metric tons of produce available for trading. —KG, GMA Integrated News