As the harvest season rolls around, a possible drop in the prices of onions is expected next month, an agriculture group disclosed on Monday, January 9.
In a radio interview, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) President Rosendo So explained that if the supply onions continues to increase starting this month, its price can possibly go down.
“Ang farmgate, nasa P250, 'yon ang nakikita natin doon sa area ng Bayambang tsaka Bongabong, 'yon ang monitoring natin doon sa presyo so far doon sa pulang sibuyas (The farmgate prices are at P250 per kilo in Bayambang and Bongabong, based on our monitoring, so far, on red onions)," So said, expressing optimism on the impact of continuous harvest.
“We hope, ‘no, na continuous 'yong ani. Nitong Jan.15 to third week ang umpisa ng ani ng pulang sibuyas 'tsaka puting sibuyas. So we expect na dadami itong second to third week of January. 'Yong presyo siguro more or less nasa P200 ang presyo ng itong buwan na ito, baka by next month, bababa na ng ano, P150 to 170, yun ang tingin natin (We hope for a continuous harvest starting January 15 to third week of January for red and white onions. So we expect an increase in supply by the second or third week of January. We see the possibility of onion prices going down to P200 this month, then, maybe it will drop to P150 or even P170 by next month)," he went on.
The group is optimistic about seeing 8,000 to 9,000 metric tons of onion harvest this January.
“We hope na ano, next month, eh, kaya nang umabot ng 20,000 metric tons (We hope that by next month we can harvest 20,000 metric tons of onions)," he stated.
Last December 30, the Department of Agriculture (DA) raised the suggested retail price or SRP of red onions to P250, which is still much lower than the prices of red onions currently being sold in some markets which soar up to P720 per kilo.
Recently, the ASEAN Channel revealed that Philippine onions have become the "most expensive onion on Earth", topping a list of countries. The DA also admitted that the price of onion in the country has gotten “out of control” and importation could be the only solution left to lower its skyrocketing prices.
“Kung hindi ho masawata itong pagtaas ng presyo na ito, ang gagawin natin po ay isa lang po, we need a palliative or ang sinasasbi nating short term solution which is the importation of the commodity (If we would fail to stop the price increase, we only have one thing to do, we need a palliative or what we call a short term solution which is importation of commodity),” said Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez, deputy spokesperson of the DA, noting that the agency is still balancing things in order to protect both the local farmers and consumers.