Vegetable prices slowly going down

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is continuously bringing vegetables to Metro Manila to stabilize the prices of basic commodities.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said there is sufficient supply of agricultural produce and the DA is transporting more products from the provinces to the metro area and cutting down on middlemen to prevent jacking up of prices.

Crispulo Bautista, DA Central Luzon regional director, attributed the low supply of agricultural produce, particularly vegetables, to the past four typhoons that caused massive damage to crops in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, but quickly clarified that the supply for Metro Manila will gradually return to normal as farmers there are set to harvest their crops starting next month.

“Farmers in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija have replanted and by February, they would start harvesting their crops,” he pointed out.

So far, Central Luzon has supplied 146,245 kilograms of lowland vegetables to the metro since the start of the year. It also delivered nearly 9,500 hogs to boost pork supply.

Bautista said the food trading centers established in the region helped farmers and fishermen sell their products directly to markets.

Meanwhile, latest market monitoring showed that prices of some vegetables have slowly decreased compared to prices weeks ago.

Ampalaya is now at P120 per kilo compared to P150 a kilo two weeks ago. Prices of sitao also decreased by as much as P40 to just P80 per kilo over the two-week period.

Eggplant also saw a P60 decline in prices to just P120 from P180, while tomatoes went down to P100 from P150. Price of carrots is now at P120, down P30.

Baguio beans also registered a P40 decline to just P80 a kilo. Pechay baguio slightly went down to P140.

However, native pechay increased to P70, cabbage to P180 and chayote to P40. Prices of squash remained stuck at P100 per kilo, potatoes at P120.

For the spices, red onion and garlic remain at P100 a kilo, white onion at P80 and ginger at P150. Price of chili (labuyo) is now down to P600 from a high of P800.