MANILA- The Department of Agriculture (DA) has promised to look into all angles that supposedly caused hefty spikes in onion prices in select markets.
In a media briefing, DA Usec Kristine Evangelista said they schedule a meeting of all stakeholders in the onion industry tomorrow.
Evangelista admitted that there is now a movement in the farm gate prices of onions from Php100 to Php 120.
Evangelista also mentioned that in their latest market monitoring, some markets are already selling onions from Php 170 while the highest price is at Php 200.
“We are looking into some problem in the value chain that is causing the spike in onion prices,” Evangelista said.
“We also considered implementing a calibrated importation. We plan to include this among the agenda in tomorrow’s meeting with the stakeholders,” she added.
She assured that all angles will be investigated, including the possibility of price manipulation and hoarding. Also, they will monitor the inflow and outflow of storage facilities.
It can be recalled that Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura alerted the DA after it reached their attention that the price of onions has spiked again to Php 200 at a time when the peak harvest in the first quarter of 2023 is already done.