The Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday that the national government might still need to import onions to the country by early 2023 if the supply does not normalize next year.

In a radio interview, DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez seemingly contradicted the DA's statement on Tuesday that "no longer considering the importation" of onions given the expected harvest in January and February.

"Let us see if the onion supply will still be thin this coming harvest season in January and February then let's decide by then on what to do," Estoperez said.

"We should ask ourselves: Are we producing enough or do we have to import? We may also have a problem with our government interventions as to why onion production is the way it is," he added.

To recall, Estoperez earlier said that the DA will focus on possible interventions for the commodity, such as giving farmers credit and helping them with logistics, transportation, cold storage and packaging.

While the suggested retail price for onions has increased to more than three times the current price, the Agriculture official also advised consumers not to buy a kilogram of onions if they find it expensive.

"It seems like many people will be angry with me on this, but to be reasonable and practical, let's not buy a kilo of onions," Estoperez said. "Let's buy only what we can afford."

As of Wednesday, the price of large onions in some Metro Manila markets had increased to as high as P720 per kilogram, while others were still selling for P550 per kilogram. On the other hand, the smaller ones cost P440 per kilogram.

Several vendors explained that they had to pay their suppliers P680 per kilo. They also had to pay for parking at the market and shipping from their suppliers.

The sellers also said the price could still go up in the coming days.

Estoperez said that the SRP for onions was only P170 per kilogram, but the prices at the farm gate were around P300 per kilogram.

In October, the DA set the SRP for red onions in wet markets in the National Capital Region at P170 per kilogram.