Onions at P80 per kilo possible next month

The imported onions should arrive in time to avoid what our stakeholders say will be interference with the harvest in mid-February.

The price of onions may start to ease in February, a group said on Saturday, as farmgate prices of the bulbs could fall to as low as P80 to P100 per kilo next month when the peak harvest season starts.

In a television interview, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura president Rosendo So said farmers are expected to harvest around 20,000 metric tons of onions next month which could be sold at P120–150 per kilo in retail stores.

To control the commodity’s rising cost, the Department of Agriculture this week authorized the importation of 21,060 metric tons of onions.

We admit the Department of Agriculture also has shortcomings in the supply chain.

DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez reiterated in the same television interview that the imported onions should arrive on 27 January.

“The imported onions should arrive in time to avoid what our stakeholders are saying that it will interfere with the harvest by mid-February,” Estoperez said in the interview.

Price drop not assured

So, however, said importation does not ensure a decrease in price because merchants may choose to temporarily place the onions in cold storage, delaying their sale.

DA admits shortcomings

Meanwhile, the DA acknowledged problems with its resource mobilization that impacted the market’s supply of onions.

“We admit that the Department of Agriculture also had shortcomings in the supply chain,” Estoperez said. “As we said, the shortcoming was more on the resource mobilization by the DA, how to bring the product to market.”

He added: “The price is a law of supply and demand: when the supply is low, the price will increase.”