Prices of 21 agricultural products increased in February —PSA

Prices of 21 agricultural products increased in February, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Tomatoes saw the highest price increase this month, as they reached P102.25 per kilo from P78.25 posted during the second phase of January

According to the agriculture department this is mainly due to the limited supply of tomato during the period.

"Bagamat may El Niño may mga lugar na naapektuhan ng ulan and then dito sa Nueva Ecija part of Central Luzon nagkaroon ng reduction ng area na tinaniman ng kamatis kaya talagang nag kulang ang supply ng kamatis at tumaas.," Department of Agriculture assistant secretary Arnel de Mesa said.

Meanwhile, other agricultural products that increased prices are calamansi (from P60 to P90), eggplant (from P40 to P60), and ampalaya (from P50 to P60 to P80), as reported by GMA Integrated News’ Mariz Umali on Unang Balita on Friday.

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said the price of some agricultural products increased because of little supply as farmers minimized planting due to their low prices in the past months.

“Ang malaki talaga iyong kamatis dahil kung makita natin noong November, December, talagang bagsak ang presyo nito. Iyong iba nag-lie low magtanim so tumaas na naman ang kamatis,” SINAG president Rosendo So told Unang Balita in an interview.

(The price increase in tomatoes is really huge because its price drops in November and December. Some farmers reduced their production of tomatoes.)

“We are seeing na nagtatanim ulit ang farmers natin. We expect na by 30 to 45 days ay magno-normalize yung presyo ng kamatis,” he added.

(We are seeing that our farmers are planting again. We expect that by 30 to 45 days the price of tomatoes will normalize.)  —Joviland Rita with Bernadette Reyes/ VAL, GMA Integrated News