Supply of agri-products ‘adequate,’ says DA

‘Based on our monitoring, we can see that for the past few weeks and months, the supply of our (agricultural) products, particularly onions, has been adequate’

The Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday that the country has a sufficient supply of rice, vegetables, and other basic commodities.

“Based on our monitoring, we can see that for the past few weeks and months, the supply of our [agricultural] products, particularly onions, has been adequate,” said Agriculture Assistant Secretary Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra, in a televised interview when asked about the status of the supply of onion, sugar, rice, and other vegetable produce.

“We know that onions are now also harvested in Nueva Ecija,” she added, mentioning that the department has a good projection of onion production this year.

“Also in rice, our President, who went to Candaba last weekend, also saw it, and we saw that it’s harvest season now,” she continued.

She noted that, based on their monitoring, a decrease in vegetable supply was observed in some trading posts. Guevarra, however, noted that the vegetable supply reaches “average” and is not cause to worry.

“Our producers and farmers guaranteed that there would be enough supply in the coming weeks and months.”

The DA official also shared that the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service continues reaching out to farmers’ cooperatives and associations and linking them to more institutional buyers through their Kadiwa on Wheels program, which provides the growers with logistical support from the government.

She said that DA Cordillera is currently partnering with the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Metro Manila for the immediate transportation of highlands vegetables.

Meanwhile, Guevarra attributed the increased price of vegetables to transportation. She said that factors such as gasoline, labor, and toll fees affect the price of the produce.

“That will really add to the cost, even if we say it can be bought at the farm gate price of P30 to P40; it will actually double when it comes to the market.,” she said.

Latest price monitoring

Based on DA’s latest price monitoring, special local commercial rice is at P54 to P65 per kilo, premium is at P50 to 61, well milled is at P49 to P56, and regular milled is at P50 to P53 per kilo.

Meanwhile, local red onion is priced between P80 and P160 per kilo, while imported red onion, medium-sized, is priced between P80 and P120.

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