The Department of Agriculture (DA) is confident that there is adequate supply of holiday food staple, such as onions, pork, chicken, beef, and rice, as the country enters the “ber” months.
(MB file photo)
Speaking at a media forum held in Quezon City, DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said that not only is there adequate supply of these food items, but they are also appropriately priced because of importation and a good harvest season for onions.
“Iyong in terms sa supply ay bumabalik na po ulit sa dati at nakaprograma na naman din iyong importation natin ng karneng baboy at karneng manok, kasama na iyong baka (In terms of supply, it’s returning to normal and our importation of pork, chicken, and beef are already programmed) so you can expect na kasapatan po ng supply natin ngayong darating na holiday season (that there is enough supply this coming holiday season),” he said on Saturday, Sept. 14.
“Iyong bigas, napakaganda rin ng ating supply both local and imported despite iyong mga nangyaring kalamidad mula El Niño at iyong mga sunud-sunod na bagyo (We also have a very good supply of both local and imported rice despite the El Niño calamity and the typhoons),” the official added.
De Mesa, who is a spokesperson for DA, described the prices of onions now as “very fair” as red onions are now priced between P75 and P120 per kilo, while white onions are priced between P100 and P120 per kilo.
In particular, he said that they don’t expect the prices of red onions to go up because the harvest last season had been “very good” at 40 percent.
The official added that DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. also ordered an additional importation of 6,000 metric tons of yellow onions, which will be delivered in tranches until December 2024 “in time for the harvest” of yellow onions in the last quarter of the year up to the first quarter of 2025.
De Mesa shared that the Certificate of Necessity to Import (CNI) was also approved for fish, and these are expected to arrive by October in time for the closing of the fishing season.