The Department of Agriculture said Tuesday it is not considering the importation of red onions given the anticipated harvest in the upcoming months and that it is looking into supply chain interventions to lower the pricing of the commodity.
Rex Estoperez, DA's deputy spokesperson, during the Laging Handa press briefing, said the government is addressing the rising red onion prices and that the Agriculture department will intervene in the production areas.
Estoperez said prices for onions have already risen to as much as P520 per kilogram in a few Metro Manila marketplaces, with farmgate prices as low as P300 per kilogram.
DA's price monitoring as of Tuesday, that local red onions in Metro Manila marketplaces averaged P500 per kilogram, while there were no inventories of either the domestically grown white onions or the imported types.
The DA said the P170 per kilogram SRP set in October was increased to more than twice that amount so as "in order not to aggravate the current difficulties of the Filipino people."
"Prices are determined by supply and demand, thus the prices will increase if there is a lack of production," Estoperez said in Filipino.
Given the high cost of production, Estoperez said dictating prices of the commodities would be challenging, adding that enforcing the suggested retail price might deter the farmers from selling their products.
Intervention needed
Estoperez added that the DA would focus on potential commodities interventions to fix the issue.
"We are looking at where we are falling short, even though we know there are imperfections in our system," he said. "We need intervention, especially in our value chain."
The same situation, he said, is true with the vegetables from Benguet and Mountain Province.
"This situation will continue if we don't improve this, including our climate change resiliency," Estoperez added.
Credit for farmers and help with logistics, transportation, cold storage, and packaging are necessary interventions., he said.
Not importing onions
He added that DA has ruled out importation to improve supply because there are enough onions in the country.
He said the agency needs to estimate the onion crops for 2023.
He claimed that because of the high cost of production and potential losses from severe weather, some farmers had declined to plant onions on "thousands of acres."