MARKET prices of onions remain above the expected range in Metro Manila, even as farmer groups have reported decline in farmgate prices amid the local harvest season and the arrival of imports into the country.
According to the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), prices in Metro Manila should have gone down to as low as P80 per kilogram after hitting over P700 per kilogram in some Metro Manila markets late last year.
“‘Yung pula ngayon sa Nueva Ecija lumalakad ng P55 to P60 (per kilogram) naman and ‘yung puti rin, more or less nasa P60 per kilo ang farmgate price. Dapat ang presyo sa Metro Manila siguro nasa P90 or P80 (per kilogram),” SINAG chairperson Rosendo So said in an interview.
The same report by Jaime Santos noted, however, that onion prices in Metro Manila remain above P100 per kilogram, as the red variety ranged from P120 to P140 per kilogram, and the white at P100 per kilogram at the Datu Tahil Market in Commonwealth, Quezon City.
Latest data from the Department of Agriculture’s price monitoring indicated that prices of the local red onion ranged from P90 to P150 and the local white onion from P80 to P130 per kilogram in Metro Manila markets as of last March 10.
Prices of imported onions, both the red and white varieties, ranged from P100 to P120 per kilogram. (GMA Integrated News)
