The Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday that the local ginger industry supply is currently tight to meet increasing domestic demands, especially due to the processing industries.

According to DA Undersecretary for High-Value Crops Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero, the growing demand is due to ginger not only being used for cooking but also being processed to be consumed as food flavoring, tea and medicine, among others.

“So now there is a scramble for supply. [S]o, the spike in prices shows that there is tight supply availability as of the moment,” Caballero said.

She also said that the recent onslaught of typhoon “Aghon” did not affect the market prices of ginger, as the crops’ harvest was done from March to April, with the latter part completed in May.

To ensure stability in prices, the DA official said they must be able to produce in two market streams: one for the household and one for processing.

Based on DA’s latest price watch, the ginger retail price in major wet markets in Metro Manila is P230 to P260 per kilo.