PRICEY FOOD INGREDIENT | The price of onions in public markets reached as high as P600 per kilogram last year. The government hopes prices will not spike again this year. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is exploring the possibility of imposing a suggested retail price (SRP) for onions, with one of its officials saying the edible bulbs are overpriced.
“We don’t have to have an SRP, but as part of discussions, we will explore every avenue,” said Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista in an interview on Monday.
“Because in the past, SRP was also a way for us to temper the price; it was like a price guide. And at the same time, it helped us also find out from whom the retailer purchases the onions being sold,” she told reporters.
According to the DA official, onion products should be sold for only P150 per kilogram at the most.
Based on the DA’s price monitoring as of Monday, local red and white onions were being sold at P150 to P200 per kg in Metro Manila markets. Imported red and white onions are currently not available.
Around the same period last year, local red onions were sold for only P80 per kg, while the imported ones retailed for P70 per kg.
On the other hand, local white onions were priced at P75 per kg and imported white onions at P80 per kg.
The possibility of hoarding is among the factors being taken into consideration before deciding whether or not to impose an SRP.
Evangelista noted that the harvest season has already reached its peak and majority of farmers have already sold their produce. “We are looking into where in the value chain are the bottlenecks,” she said.
“We received reports in the past that our farmers were complaining that onions were bought from them at a lower price and then sold it at a high price. Now, we are looking into those who buy the produce from our farmers and for how long,” she said.