The Department of Agriculture (DA) warned about the imposition of the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for garlic if its importers continue to make its prices unreasonable for consumers.

During the joint monitoring of the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry at Mega Q-Mart in Quezon City on Monday, Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel said he was disappointed upon seeing that the price of garlic is now at P140 per kilo.

“I think the price should be P100 to P110 only. From what I heard, garlic is only sold at a retail price of P80. If it’s being sold at P140, then that’s profiteering. If they do not stop that, then we will not think twice about imposing an MSRP,” Tiu Laurel said in Filipino.

He said the DA will set a meeting with garlic stakeholders to address the issue this week.

The DA chief further said that local farmers are now having issues with production, especially since most garlic-producing provinces experience high temperatures due to the summer season.

“Garlic thrives at a lower temperature. Another thing is that our garlic planting materials are the small ones, considered as premium. Unlike the garlic that is being sold in the wet markets, they are imported from China, which is bigger. We import about 95 percent of our garlic from China. Even our ASEAN neighbors such as Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Taiwan are getting their garlic from China,” he said.

To address this, he said the DA now has a program to improve the country’s garlic production, considering Korea’s production as a model.

“Korea is producing 12 to 15 tons of garlic per hectare, way higher compared to Philippine garlic production, which is just 1 to 2 tons per hectare,” according to the DA chief.

An article from FreshPlaza said that China's garlic planting area reached approximately 790,000 hectares in 2024, with a slight increase in 2025.

At the same time, with the benefits of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership coming into effect, China's garlic exports to member countries are likely to grow further.

In 2024, China's garlic exports reached 2.62 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 15.96 percent, marking an eight-year high with main export markets including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the United States.

Compliant with pork, rice MSRP

Meanwhile, Tiu Laurel was glad to know that most sellers of rice and pork at the said wet market are compliant with the MSRP.

Based on its monitoring, the price of liempo (belly) is P380 per kilo and pork kasim/pigue is P350 per kilo.

The DA imposed an MSRP on 10 March, setting prices at P380 per kilo for liempo, P350 per kilo for kasim and pigue in wet markets across the National Capital Region (NCR), and P300 per kilo for pork sold by traders to retailers, excluding supermarkets and hypermarkets.

However, Tiu Laurel admitted that there are still erring pork sellers who are not heeding the MSRP.

He said there were reports that the price of pork in Cartimar and in Pasay Public Market is still high, with kasim priced between P340 and P360 per kilo, while liempo costs P380 to P420 per kilo.

For the part of rice, Trade Secretary Roque said almost all rice retailers that they have checked are compliant with the MSRP.

On 26 March, Tiu Laurel announced that the MSRP for imported rice would be reduced again beginning 31 March to P45 per kilo, following a continued decline in global rice prices.