Oversupply brings down prices of eggplant, onions

Around 300 kilos of eggplants from Cabiao, Nueva Ecija are rotting away as market prices fell on Monday due to oversupply of vegetables.

Two thousand kilos of eggplants are harvested every four days, but farmers struggle to sell the produce as the price dropped to six pesos per kilo.

At Balintawak Market in Quezon City, vendors sell eggplants from P10 to P12 per kilo from its previous price of P25 per kilo.

"Dahil mataas ang presyo ng talong last year maraming farmer na nagtanim ng talong ngayon so start here -- nagkaroon talaga ng konting oversupply kasi sabay sabay silang nagtanim e," said Director Crispulo Bautista of Department of Agriculture - Region III.

"'Yung cost per kilo para mag break even ka is P5.40 so kung ang prevailing price is 10 pesos may kita ka na," he said.

Meanwhile, onion farmers from Bongabon, Nueva Ecija blame the imported onions at the market for the falling prices of local produce.

They sell the onions for as low as P15 per kilo.  At Muñoz Market in Quezon City, onions are sold at P60 per kilo from the previous price of P80 per kilo.

Prices of other vegetables such as tomatoes, string beans, and ampalaya also dropped by around P10 to P30 per kilo.

Market vendors are expecting the prices to fall further in the coming days. —Marisse Panaligan/ LDF, GMA News